FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Six weeks after seven inmates escaped from a Texas prison, at least one worker has been suspended and some guards may be fired, a union official said.

Several guards named in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice report issued last week are expected to face disciplinary hearings, where the warden will make recommendations based on an investigative committee's findings.

Brian Olsen, executive director of a prison employee council within the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said prison officials should take into account institutional problems.

"There were some mistakes made by those officers ... but poor training and other problems should be taken into consideration," Olsen said. "Morale has been low for two years because of low pay and high turnover of guards. We're down to an absolute crisis."

The convicts escaped Dec. 13 from the maximum-security Connally Unit, 60 miles southeast of San Antonio. They have since been charged with the Christmas Eve murder of a Dallas-area police officer, and are still at large.

The department will announce disciplinary actions against the guards as soon as the actions are carried out, agency spokesman Glen Castlebury said.

Institutional director Gary Johnson said in the department's report that a guard shortage may have played an indirect role in the escape. The union has said the prison was short 22 staffers at the time.

Meanwhile, Jerry McDowell, a prison recreation specialist cited for failing to report three unsupervised inmates, said Wednesday he was being suspended without pay for three weeks and placed on probation for a year.

Prison authorities would not comment on McDowell's punishment.

McDowell said it was common to see unsupervised inmates at the prison. The seven escaped convicts were in a classification requiring only periodic supervision, officials said.

"You might have inmates outside the maintenance building ... just sitting around, socializing without a supervisor in the presence, but (that day) they were in the building, so I would consider that indirect" supervision, McDowell said.

The reward for information leading to the capture of the seven escaped convicts has soared to $500,000, one of the nation's biggest bounties ever.

Law enforcement agencies have followed thousands of tips on the whereabouts of the heavily armed fugitives. But authorities say revealing too much about their search may tip off the convicts.