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| N.M. Governor Fills Corrections Post |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 01/13/2003 |
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Gov.-elect Bill Richardson filled out his cabinet December 31, appointing a veteran prison warden to run the Corrections Department. Joe Williams, warden at a privately operated prison in Hobbs, was named corrections secretary. His nomination is subject to confirmation by the state Senate. Williams has been warden since 1999 of the Lea County Correctional Facility, which is owned and operated by Wackenhut Corrections Corp. He was one of the leaders of Richardson's transition team that reviewed Corrections Department operations for the incoming governor. Much of Williams' career was spent in the state Corrections Department. He has served as the warden of the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas and the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants. He began his career as a correctional officer in 1982 and progressed through the ranks. The department leases space in the 1,200-bed prison at Hobbs and a Wackenhut-operated prison at Santa Rosa to house state inmates. Richardson said he wanted Williams, 'someone with the experience in both the public and private systems, to study the privatization of the corrections system and to give me his best advice on how best to proceed long-term in corrections.' Gov. Gary Johnson's administration, in its final budget proposal to the Legislature, has recommended a 400-bed expansion of a state prison in Las Cruces to relieve inmate overcrowding. The Johnson administration has estimated New Mexico needs to add 1,000 to 1,100 prison beds over the next three to four years to cope with projected growth in the number of inmates. Richardson, at a news conference, said, 'I intend to build no new prisons. I want to invest in education and economic development. We must find a correctional policy that is cost-effective.' Williams said the department needed to 'look at opening up our community corrections and reintegration programs to offset the space that is being taken up in adult prisons right now.' Lawrence Trujillo, an analyst at the Legislative Finance Committee, was named deputy secretary for administration in the Corrections Department. Trujillo has been the corrections budget analyst for the LFC since 1998. He worked in the Corrections Department as a financial specialist in 1985-89. Richardson also said he would create a new position in the department, director of labor relations, to improve relations with correctional officers and other workers. |
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