5 days ago
TDCJ Executive Director announces retirement
(FOX 44) – Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Executive Director Bryan Collier has announced his retirement, effective August 31.
TDCJ says this comes following a long career of public service. Collier assumed the role of Executive Director on August 1, 2016.
In addition to guiding the agency through Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19, TDCJ says Collier's leadership was instrumental in decreasing the recidivism rate to one of the lowest in the country, coordination with State's leadership to secure significant pay raises for correctional staff and parole officers, and investing in the rehabilitation and reentry of those incarcerated.
Under Collier's leadership, the agency embraced innovation, broke ground on a new state-of-the-art training facility, issued tablets to more than 130,000 inmates, and implemented transformative programs such as the Field Minister and Life Coach approaches to peer support, and the STRIVE inmate self-improvement curriculum.
TDCJ says Collier has held a wide variety of positions during his 40 years of service to the agency. These include clerk, correctional officer, parole officer, section director, parole division director, deputy executive director, and executive director.
Collier has a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology and Corrections from Sam Houston State University. He is a member of the American Correctional Association (ACA), serving on the Board of Governors, Vice President, and as Vice-Chair of the Performance-Based Standards Committee.
TDCJ says Collier has received numerous awards – including ACA's Best in the Business Award, Correctional Leaders Association (CLA) Edward R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award, CLA Michael Francke Career Achievement Award, and Dr. George J. Beto Hall of Honor Award.
The Executive Director is appointed by the nine-member Texas Board of Criminal Justice. Chairman Nichols says the TDCJ the board has started the process of appointing a new executive director.
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