Christina Melton Crain is a lawyer by trade, but with a strong desire to lend a helping hand to the governor of Texas and make an impact in the community, she dedicates a good portion of her time to her voluntary position as Chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, which oversees the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).  Recently, The Corrections Connection caught up with Crain and talked with her about her duties as the head of the board and the strengths she brings to her position because of her experience in the legal field.

Q: How did you become Chairperson of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice?

Crain:  It's a little bit different, maybe, than some states, but our board is made up of nine volunteers.  I'm actually a volunteer in this position.  This is not my everyday job. It's appointed by the governor.  We all serve six-year terms and the governor gets to pick one of those nine people to be the chairperson.  I was on the board.  I was appointed in May of 2001 and had served a little less than two years when he asked me to be the chair.  Our current chair was going off the board last February.

Q: What is the role of the board?

Crain:  Basically, our job is to just kind of be the buffer and to oversee the TDCJ and hire the executive director.

Q: What is your background?

Crain: I'm a lawyer by trade and my practice mainly focuses on mediation and the representation of minor children in various capacities.  I represent some juveniles when they get caught up in delinquency cases.  I also represent minors [who have been] abused [or] injured.  I [make sure that] what they are going to receive is in their best interest [and is put in] a trust or some kind of investment tool so that the money will be there for them later in time. With the abuse [and] neglect [cases], we deal with child protective services and foster care to make sure that all their needs are met.

I knew the governor and when [George W.] Bush won President, Governor [Rick] Perry took over the governorship, [he] asked if I would come on board.

I was glad to do it and it's been extremely fascinating and a whole different world.  That's kind of how it all came about.  It wasn't necessarily something that I sought.  I just wanted to serve in some capacity and help the governor.

Q: How do you think your experience in the legal field helps you as a board member?

Crain:  I think we have several lawyers that are on the board and we all come from different backgrounds.  I think that, as an attorney, I have a different way of viewing things, [like] things that we sign or contracts that we enter into or business ventures that we take on within the agency.   I have a different way of looking at those things than someone else whose mind isn't trained that way.

[There are] nine people on the board [and] all of us bring something interesting or unique to the board.  We have a rancher, a CPA, a former judge, several attorneys, a real estate broker [and] a victim that serves on our board as well.

It's kind of interesting, I think.  From the attorney angle, you can view [things in a different way.  You ask questions, like] are there any downsides?  [You tend not to] just run into it.  [You] think through all the legal angles.

Q: What do you like most about serving on the board?

Crain: I think what I like the absolute most about serving in this position is, like I said, I wanted to do something for the governor and help out some way.  My undergraduate degree was in government, my father was in politics and my husband is in politics, as well.  So, I have grown up around it.

I'm helping serve the state and serve the governor and at the same time I feel like I am really helping to make a difference.  There are a lot of committees and boards that people can serve on, [but] this is something that affects every single citizen, regardless of whether you think it does or not.  It's opened my eyes to a lot of different things that we can do to help the safety factor.  One thing we're working on is the whole reentry initiative, which is nationwide - looking at all the people who are coming out of prison each year whether we want them to or not.  It's nice to be in [a] working groups that's really trying to make difference.

Q: What are some of the challenges of your position?

Crain: From a personal angle, [it is difficult because] this is not my career, this is a voluntary position [and] we're the second largest overall agency in the nation and there are so many areas to oversee.  Just making sure that you're doing the right things [is tough] and, of course, that is why we have the executive director - to make sure that everything is running correctly [on a daily basis].

From a professional standpoint, on the criminal justice side we're always dealing with the issue of capacity, which is something that I am dealing with now.  A lot of states are dealing with this, but since we're the second largest prison population [overcrowding is a challenge.  It is difficult to determine] what is the best alternative - leasing beds or building another prison [or] working on the probation and parole end.  I think that's always a challenge.  Any criminal justice arena is going to have the capacity issue [and], with us being the second largest, it's probably got a little added twist to it.

I would also say, like in many jobs, there's not enough time in the day.  There [are] so many things that we want to do.  We've got a very creative team - a well grounded group. They're always coming up with new and inventive ideas.  Of course, just having the time is always a challenge.  You wish there were just more hours in the day.

Q: How much time do you dedicate to the board?

Crain: On average, if we look at it from a daily basis, half of my working day is probably devoted to it whether that be via emails or phone [calls] or faxes or meetings.  [We meet twice or three times a] month in Austin, which is our capital, or in Huntsville, which is the headquarters of our prison system.  [We] just completed the budgeting process.  It's taken a little bit more time [in] the last couple of [months].

Q: What do you do in your spare time?

Crain: I am a singer - that's what I do as a hobby.  Actually, I have sung at a bunch of criminal justice events.  I belong to a group of lawyers that sing at events statewide.

I'm [also] an avid walker and I do yoga.  I even do that on the road.  Our executive director started a fitness initiative for the agency and it's something that our governor is very much behind as well.  He held [the] very first 10K last year.  He encouraged all the agencies to come out and do the 10K.

There is a big, big push statewide through our governor to do physical activity because it does relieve stress and it helps everyone.

I [also] like to travel.

Q: What advice do you have for people working in the corrections field?

Crain: I think that these people that work [for the] Texas Department of Criminal Justice are lucky in the fact that whenever they go to work they know that they are helping make a difference.  Not to say anything against any other government organization or agency, [but] it is a very different mission [for TDCJ].  They're helping to keep the streets safe whether making sure [nobody escapes] or helping [inmates] while [they are] incarcerated or whether it be that they're a parole officer or a probation officer.

I think there's a lot of satisfaction in that they can go home at the end of each day [knowing that they] might not have completely changed the world, but [they] could have affected somebody's life.  I tell them you never know who you may be affecting by your actions or what you do every day.  You're in a leadership role.  You're making a difference for somebody and somebody's watching you.  You're setting an example.  We've had inmates who have come back and told us, 'I remember warden so-and-so, he may not remember me, but he made and impression on me.'

In fact, we had one former offender say he remembered the warden coming down on him so hard and that made an impression.  Somebody cared enough to spend the personal time to tell me that I was going the wrong way.  I think these folks have a very different role than maybe a lot of people working in state government.  We try to stress that with them every chance we get.