Leann Bertsch (ND)

Governor John Hoeven appointed Leann K. Bertsch Director of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in July 2005, after serving as the Commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Labor from September 2004 through June 2005.

Prior to entering state government, Leann served as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Burleigh County from August 1996 through August 2004. Leann worked as an attorney for Legal Assistance of North Dakota from 1992 through 1996.

Leann served for 21 years in the North Dakota National Guard as an Assistant Judge Advocate until her retirement in 2007. Leann holds a Bachelor of Science degree from North Dakota State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law.

Matthew Cate (CA)

Matthew Cate was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on May 16, 2008, as Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Cate was appointed as Inspector General by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in March 2004 and subsequently confirmed by the state senate to that position. As Inspector General, Mr. Cate had been responsible for public oversight of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Since 2007, he had also served as the chairman of the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board and in that capacity had been responsible for reporting to the state legislature on the progress made by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in fulfilling its obligation to provide effective rehabilitative programs to California’s inmates and parolees.

Prior to becoming California’s Inspector General, Mr. Cate served as a state and local prosecutor. From 1996 to 2004, he served as a Deputy Attorney General at the California Department of Justice. In that capacity, he supervised a team of trial and appellate prosecutors, managed a criminal trial caseload of political corruption matters and provided counsel to county grand juries. In 2003, while working on federal fraud and corruption matters, Mr. Cate was cross-designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney. From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Cate was a Deputy District Attorney for Sacramento County, last serving in a special assignment prosecuting juvenile rape and murder cases. Prior to joining the public sector, Mr. Cate worked as a business litigation attorney with Downey, Brand, Seymour & Rohwer. He has also held several positions as an instructor of legal and law enforcement-related topics, including standards training for peace officers.

Mr. Cate earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Oregon School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Linfield College, where he was an Academic All-American. He is a member of the California State Bar.

Harold Clarke (VA)

Harold Clarke grew up in the Canal Zone in Panama. After college in Nebraska, he joined the Nebraska Department of Corrections in 1974 as a counselor. He rose through the department, becoming warden at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in 1987 and the Director of Corrections in 1990, becoming the first employee promoted from within the agency to that position.

In August of 1990, he was appointed Director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, a position he held until 2005, when he began his role as Secretary of the Washington State Department of Corrections. Last November (2007), Clarke took on yet another new role, this time on the East coast as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. On November 15, 2010, Harold was named the Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections.

He is currently serving as the immediate past president of the American Correctional Association and on the Executive Committee of ASCA. He is a former member of the Doane College Board of Trustees, former board chair of Lincoln Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors. He also served as president of the Association of State Correctional Administrators. His awards include the Legacy Award from the Association of Women Executives in Corrections in 2007, the Pioneer Human Services Partner of the Year Award in 2006, the Michael Francke Award from the Association of State Correctional Administrators in 1997, the Citizen of the Year Award from the Nebraska Association of Substance Abuse Directors in 1996 and the Dedicated Correctional Service Award in 1994.

Harold Clarke was appointed by Governor Robert F. McDonnell as Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections effective November 15, 2010, overseeing a Department comprised of three major operational areas: Operations, Community and Administration. At the time of his appointment, the Agency had 11,602 employees across the Commonwealth. As of December 31, 2010, the Department has 29 major institutions, 8 field units and 7 work centers overseeing 31,900 inmates, and 7 detention and 4 diversion centers as well as 43 Probation Districts overseeing 59,517 probationers.

Carl Danberg (DE)

Carl C. Danberg is the Commissioner of Correction for the State of Delaware. He was nominated by Governor Ruth Ann Minner, and unanimously confirmed by the Delaware Senate to supervise the state’s unified correctional system. Previously, Mr. Danberg was the Attorney General of the State of Delaware from December 2005 to January 2007. He was appointed Attorney General to fulfill the unexpired term of his predecessor. Prior to his appointment he served as Chief Deputy Attorney General.

Mr. Danberg was the Deputy Principal Assistant to the Commissioner of the Delaware Department of Correction for over eight years, handling external affairs. He was responsible for community, legislative and media relations, managing victim services, budgeting and drafting legislation as well as training and advising Correction staff.

Prior to joining the Department of Correction, Carl was a Deputy Attorney General representing Corrections in State and Federal Courts and advising on administrative matters. Early in his career, Danberg worked on the Senate and Presidential campaigns of United States Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Danberg is a Major in the Judge Advocate General’s Corp of the Delaware Army National Guard. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware, his alma mater, teaching constitutional law of criminal procedure.

Carl is a graduate of the Widener University School of Law. He serves on the Boards of Mount Aviat Academy in Childs, MD and the St. Patrick’s Day Society which supports the St. Patrick’s Senior Center in Wilmington. He serves as a Special Minister of the Eucharist at St. Johns/Holy Angels Catholic Church in Newark and is a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Carl is married to Barbara Snapp Danberg, a fellow attorney. Together they have two daughters and reside in Newark.

Christopher Epps (MS)

Commissioner Christopher B. Epps was appointed to his current post by Democratic Governor Ronnie Musgrove in August of 2002 and was reappointed by Republican Governor Haley Barbour on January 13, 2004. Epps, honored as the longest serving Commissioner in the history of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), has held virtually every management and supervisory position in the agency since beginning his career with MDOC in 1982 as a correctional officer.

During his term as Commissioner, Chris Epps has paved the way for the agency to move forward. He appointed the first female Deputy Commissioner in corrections and the first female superintendent for a state prison in the history of Mississippi; has successfully raised the salaries of all MDOC employees; has significantly increased the number of inmates graduating in ABE, Vocational School, and Alcohol and Drug programs; and has led the agency’s effort to achieve full ACA accreditation, becoming the 14th state to receive the ACA Eagle Award. Commissioner Epps received an honorable discharge from the Mississippi Army National Guard after attaining the rank Lieutenant Colonel.

Currently serving as president-elect of the American Correctional Association and immediate past-president of the Southern States Correctional Association, Commissioner Epps also serves on the Emergency Response Interoperability Center Public Safety Advisory Committee for the Federal Communications Commission and the National Board of Directors for the Correctional Peace Officers Foundation. Epps is a graduate of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia with a Master of Arts Degree in Guidance and Counseling. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education from Mississippi Valley State University.

Robert Houston (NE)

Governor Dave Heineman appointed Robert P. Houston as the Director of the Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) on March 14, 2005. Director Houston started his correctional career as a Senior Counselor at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in November 1974. He held progressively more responsible positions throughout the Agency in the thirty years that followed to include Unit Manager at the Lincoln Correctional Center, Unit Administrator at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, Associate Superintendent at the Omaha Correctional Center, and Deputy Warden at the Penitentiary. He was the Warden at three institutions—the Omaha Correctional Center, Lincoln Correctional Center, and Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility—and served from September 2002 to April 2003 as the Assistant Director of Programs and Community Services. For nearly two years before his appointment to his current position, he worked as the Director of the Douglas County (Nebraska) Department of Corrections.

Director Houston is a Certified Auditor for the American Correctional Association and a Consultant for the National Institute of Corrections. Mr. Houston has served on many boards and committees to include the Jail Standards Board, the Crime Commission, the Community Corrections Council, the Capitol Facilities Planning Committee, and the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. He is the Co-Founder and Member of the Omaha’s Metropolitan Chief’s Association, Board President of the UNO/UNL Criminal Justice Education Fund, past president of the United State’s Deputy Warden’s Association and the Nebraska Correctional Association. Director Houston taught Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska – Omaha/Lincoln for twenty years. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska.

Gary Maynard (MD)

Gary D. Maynard brings more than 30 years of extensive correctional administrative experience to the job of Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Since 1987 he has served as the Director of the corrections systems of three other states – Iowa, South Carolina, and Oklahoma.
Mr. Maynard was previously President of the American Correctional Association. He is a member of the Association of State Correctional Administrators where he serves as Director of the Southern Region, Chairs the Clearinghouse Committee and serves on the Executive, Performance Measures and Reentry and Community Corrections Committees.
Mr. Maynard was a member for 32 years of the Army National Guard of the United States and served as the Adjutant General of the Oklahoma Army and Air National Guard. He retired in 1995 as a Brigadier General, U.S. Army.
A few of the awards and recognition received include:
• Courage and Valor Award, Oklahoma Department of Corrections, 1997
• Roy Wilkins Meritorious Service Award, NAACP, 1993
• Distinguished Alumni, East Central University, Ada, OK, 1994
• Hall of Fame, Field Artillery Officer Candidate School, Fort Sill, OK, 1993
Mr. Maynard holds a Masters Degree from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma.

He and his wife Donna live in Towson, Maryland.

A.T. Wall (RI)

Prior to this appointment Mr. Wall served in the capacity of Assistant Director for a number of years. In this position he was responsible for the central management of Departmental operations and functioned as the Director’s second-in-command.

Mr. Wall’s career in corrections began in 1976 as a Probation Officer. After his graduation from Law School, he served as a Prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and then joined the Vera Institute of Justice, where he was Director of a sentencing project for chronic offenders convicted by the New York City Courts. A native of Rhode Island, he returned to his home state in 1985 and worked in the Governor’s Office on policy issues in the areas of corrections and criminal justice. He was tapped by the Director of Corrections to join the Department in 1987 as Assistant Director. Mr. Wall was named Interim Director in 1999 and became Director in 2000.

Mr. Wall received a Bachelors of Arts Degree from Yale University in 1975 and his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1980.