John Baldwin (IA)

John Baldwin was appointed Director of the Iowa Department of Corrections on April 25, 2007. Mr. Baldwin, a Ft. Dodge native, has been with the Iowa Department of Corrections since 1977 and served as Deputy Director of Administration since 1983. Along with former DOC directors Hal Farrier and Paul Grossheim, he helped establish the Department of Corrections when they split from the Department of Human Services in 1983.

Some of his accomplishments have included:
• Department leader over multiple building and expansion projects including new facilities at Newton, Ft. Dodge and Clarinda.
• Development of Iowa Offender Based Management System (ICON)
• Appointed to the Criminal Justice Information System Committee to develop a sharing plan of all offender and court data among all criminal justice agencies in the state.
• Overseeing the two year Durrant study of the Department of Corrections.

John received his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Iowa and an M.A. in Political Science and Public Administration from Iowa State University.

John is married with two grown sons.

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.

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.

Ray Hobbs (AR)

Governor Mike Beebe’s recommendation and the Board of Corrections’ decision have placed a 35-year veteran of corrections at the helm of the Arkansas Department of Correction as interim director. Ray Hobbs, 57, of Pine Bluff was selected following the retirement of Larry Norris, longtime director of the agency. Hobbs served as Norris’ Chief Deputy Director for nine years.

Hobbs began his employment at the ADC in 1975 as an entry level correctional officer at the Tucker Unit. After moving through the ranks, he was promoted to assistant warden in 1978 and to warden the following year. Hobbs became Assistant Director of Institutions in 1994, Deputy Director of Institutions in 1998, and Chief Deputy Director in 2001.

He is recognized nationally for his work with emergency preparedness, the Prison Rape Elimination Act and accreditation of correctional facilities. Hobbs is a certified auditor for the American Correctional Association and serves on its Board of Governors. He is also a member of the Southern States Correctional Association, Arkansas Criminal Justice Association and North America Association for Wardens.

Hobbs a Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he is a part time Criminal Justice lecturer and instructor.

He will serve as interim director until a permanent replacement for Norris is named, which likely will take place in the late spring.

Robert Houston (NE)

Director Houston was appointed as Director by Governor Dave Heineman effective March 14, 2005. Immediately preceding his appointment, he was Director of the Douglas County Department of Corrections having served in that position since April 2003. He started his state corrections career in 1974 as a counselor at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. In the years that followed, he held progressively more responsible positions throughout the Agency to include Unit Manager at the Lincoln Correctional Center, Unit Administrator at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, Associate Superintendent at the Omaha Correctional Center, Deputy Warden at the Penitentiary, Warden at three institutions: Omaha Correctional Center, Lincoln Correctional Center, and Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility; from September 2002 to April 2003 he served as the Assistant Director for Programs and Community Services. Mr. Houston serves on many boards and committees including 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 University of Nebraska Omaha/Lincoln (UNO/UNL) Criminal Justice Education Fund within the University of Nebraska Foundation, past president of the United State’s Deputy Warden’s Association and the Nebraska Correctional Association. In 2009, Mr. Houston was Chairman of the Charitable Giving Campaign for Nebraska State Government. He has served both as an auditor for the American Correctional Association (ACA), as a consultant for the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) and was recently appointed as a Commissioner of ACA.
Mr. Houston has 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 where he served as a part time instructor from 1984 to 2005. He was recognized by the UNO as the College of Continuing Studies Instructor of the Year in 1998 and by the College of Public Administration and Community Service (CPACS) for Excellence in Community Service 2002, the Alumni Community Service Award in 2009, in 2011 the Hubert Locke Award, and the 2012 UNO Alumni Citation Award Recipient.

Denny Kaemingk (SD)

Denny Kaemingk was appointed Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Corrections by Governor Dennis Daugaard on April 4, 2011. The Department of Corrections manages the state’s adult and juvenile correctional facilities, adult parole services, and juvenile aftercare. It has 845 employees and an annual budget of 98 million dollars.

Kaemingk served for nine years on the Board of Pardons and Paroles. He was starting his fourth year as chairman of the Parole Board when appointed as Secretary of Corrections.
Kaemingk’s law enforcement career began in 1976 as a patrolman in the Mitchell, SD Police Department. He later advanced to drug detective, special investigator for the Attorney General’s Office, Captain of Detectives and Communications/911 Supervisor before finally retiring from the police force in 2000. During his law enforcement career, Kaemingk was recognized as the Mitchell Jaycees Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer and Mitchell Exchange Club Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.
He is a part-time Criminal Justice instructor at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD.

Kaemingk was the Chairman of the Abbott House Foundation, a private program that provides residential treatment services, therapeutic foster care and outpatient services to girls between the ages of 7 and 17 in Mitchell, SD. He also is Past President and Member of the Mitchell Area Safehouse Foundation, a member of the Mitchell Lions Club, Past Board Member of the South Dakota Lions Foundation and Lions Eye Bank, Coordinator of the Sight and Service Committee, Past member of the Mitchell Regional Habitat Public Relations Committee, Past Lay President of the Board of Directors of the First Reformed Church and member of the Mitchell Chamber of Commerce. He has received the Outstanding Lay Person Award from the South Dakota Pharmaceutical Association, Outstanding Young Lions Club Member Award and Lion of the Year Award and was named Melvin Jones Fellow of the International Lions Club Foundation.

Kaemingk and his wife Wyonne have two sons, Adam and Bryan and one grandchild, Eliot Claire.

Robert Lampert (WY)

Robert O. (Bob) Lampert is a Marine Corps veteran with more than 32 years of correctional experience, including military and state service. He came to Wyoming from the Oregon Department of Corrections, where he worked as superintendent of the largest correctional facility in the northwest and as assistant superintendent at Oregon’s only maximum-security institution. He began his position as director of the Wyoming Department of Corrections on November 10, 2003.

Before joining the Oregon prison system, Director Lampert retired from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice following a 20-year career that saw him rise through the ranks from correctional officer to senior warden. While in Texas, he worked at nine different facilities and was personally charged with developing and implementing several innovative programs for high-risk inmates.

During his first two years of service with the Wyoming Department of Corrections, Director Lampert was able to obtain nearly $139 million in funding for new construction and the expansion of existing facilities, the majority of which was spent on adding education, programming and treatment space. He was also successful in guiding the legislature through a site selection process and approval for a new 706-bed prison that is uniquely designed to house and meet the needs of inmates with the highest medical, mental health, substance abuse, sex offender, or other special treatment needs. He was also successful in increasing authorized staffing levels in the agency by 32%, gaining P.O.S.T. certification for correctional officers and supervisors, and obtaining statutory law enforcement retirement eligibility for parole agents.

Director Lampert was born in Newcastle, Wyoming and is a graduate of Steven’s High School in Rapid City, South Dakota. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in criminology and corrections, as well as a master’s of business administration, from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. He also earned a doctorate of jurisprudence from the University of Houston and is licensed to practice law in Texas.

George Lombardi (MO)

Missouri Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon nominated George A. Lombardi to the Director of the Department of Corrections on December 18, 2008. The nomination was confirmed on January 29, 2009. Lombardi became the 6th Director to lead the Department since Corrections became its own cabinet-level state agency in 1981.

Mr. Lombardi previously served as the Director of the Division of Adult Institutions for 18 years. He was responsible for 21 adult correctional institutions throughout Missouri encompassing 8,600+ staff and 30,500 inmates. He is a past Warden of two correctional institutions and a 33 year veteran of the Missouri Department of Corrections. Mr. Lombardi served on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Criminal Justice Task Force for the Missouri Association of Social Welfare. He is a past President of the Missouri Corrections Association and has served as an auditor for the Commission of Accreditation for Corrections. He has lectured on criminal justice matters at the American Corrections Association, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, colleges and universities and civic organizations. He has also co-authored two articles:

“Mainstreaming Death-Sentenced Inmates”
“Peer Interaction Training for Correctional Administrators”

Mr. Lombardi organized the first annual National Conference on Prisoner Reentry with Central Missouri State University. He was recognized at the December, 2002 Commencement at the Central Missouri State University with a Distinguished Alumnus Award. Mr. Lombardi has a B.S. and M.S. in psychology from the Central Missouri State University.

Brian Owens (GA)

Mr. Owens was appointed Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections by Governor Sonny Perdue in January 2009. As prisons chief, he oversees the fifth largest prison system in the nation, 200,000 felons in prison or on probation, 15,000 employees, and an annual budget of over $1.2 billion.

Mr. Owens began his career in criminal justice as a Parole Officer in 1993. He served as the Assistant Chief Parole and Chief Parole Officer in Fulton County.

In 1999, Mr. Owens led the Department of Corrections’ Office of Planning and Analysis before accepting the position of Executive Assistant. He has held his most recent position as Assistant Commissioner since 2005. Prior to beginning is career in criminal justice, Mr. Owens served five years in the Air Force.

Mr. Owens is a graduate of University of Georgia, and, lives with his wife, Sheri, and son, Evan, and daughter, Erin, in Forsyth, Georgia.

Tom Roy (MN)

Governor Mark Dayton named Thomas Roy to lead the Department of Minnesota Department of Corrections on January 20, 2011.

Roy has spent his career in corrections, working with offenders, victims and communities. He previously served as Director of Arrowhead Regional Corrections, serving five Northern Minnesota counties.

Roy is a native of Northern Minnesota and a 1974 graduate of the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis where he received a B.A. in Political Science. Upon graduation he returned to the Arrowhead Region and began a career in probation and parole in Duluth as a pre-trial officer and in Carlton County, as an adult and juvenile officer and supervisor. In 1994 he was promoted to Chief Probation Officer for the five Arrowhead counties and in 2002 he took over as Executive Director for Arrowhead Regional Corrections. In addition to his work as a corrections administrator he has had involvement in numerous state and national initiatives and work groups, including: the American Probation and Parole Association as a Regional Representative and where he served on the Executive Board from 2007-2009. He currently is the chair of the Minnesota Interstate Compact Advisory Council which oversees the movement of convicted offenders to and from Minnesota.

Derrick Schofield (TN)

Derrick D. Schofield was sworn in as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) on January 15, 2011 by Governor Bill Haslam. Commissioner Schofield has served as Assistant Commissioner and Chief of Staff of the Georgia Department of Corrections where he directed the day-today activities of the fifth largest prison system in the country. As Commissioner of the TDOC, Schofield oversees 14 prisons with an inmate population of over 20,000. The Department employs 5,440 professionals and has an operating budget of more than $662,000,000.

Commissioner Schofield has almost twenty years of correctional experience having served in various positions including Warden, Facility Operations Director and Director of Investigations and Compliance. Prior to being Commissioner, Schofield served in the United States Army from 1982-1989 where he reached the rank of Captain.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Fort Valley State University and a Master’s of Public Administration from Georgia’s Law Enforcement Command College and Columbus State University.

Schofield is a recipient of the Distinguished Social Sciences Alumnus Award from Fort Valley State University and recently served on a national committee on the incarceration of youthful offenders in adult prisons.

Kim Thomas (AL)

On January 17, 2011, Governor Robert Bentley appointed Mr. Kim T. Thomas as Acting Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections. An interest in criminology and corrections led Kim to study at Marshall University in West Virginia where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1983. Upon graduation, he relocated to Alabama and began his career with the Alabama Department of Corrections. Following his completion at the Correctional Academy, he rose through the ranks as a Correctional Officer, Correctional Sergeant, and Classification Specialist at a maximum security facility. While employed with the Department, Commissioner Thomas attended the Birmingham School of Law and received his Juris Doctorate in 1993. In April 1995, he was given the honor of providing legal representation to the Alabama Department of Corrections as an Assistant General Counsel. For the past six years, under Commissioners Donal Campbell and Richard Allen, he has served as General Counsel to the Department.

LaDonna Thompson (KY)

LaDonna H. Thompson, an 18-year veteran of the Kentucky Department of Corrections, made history when Gov. Steve Beshear named her commissioner, marking the first time a woman has been chosen for the top DOC post.
Thompson, 45, has spent the last two and a half years as Deputy Commissioner of the agency. While serving as a project manager, she was instrumental in implementing a statewide offender management system – a comprehensive project that combined three large, outdated systems to allow for a seamless flow of information.
As one of the original correctional officers at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, Thompson moved on to hold a position at Kentucky State Reformatory and Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in LaGrange. She made her way up through the ranks, working with the VINE program (Victim Information and Notification Everyday), inmate classification and population management divisions.
During her career in Corrections, Thompson received numerous awards, including three honors for distinguished service to the department. A recent graduate of the Leadership Kentucky class of 2007, her awards also include two for recommendations that resulted in fiscal savings for the Commonwealth. Thompson was a 2007 recipient of the “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” Award presented by the National Center for Women and Policing, and was selected as a participant in the 2006 NIC Executive Leadership for Women class.
A graduate of Morehead State University, Thompson received her degree in psychology and sociology. She and her husband Brian, a detective with the Louisville Metro Police Department, live in Bullitt County with their two sons, Seth and Christian.

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.