Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday picked a new corrections secretary to replace Roger Werholtz who has been serving in a transitional role for the agency.
Kelly announced Jeff Zmuda, currently the deputy director of the Idaho Department of Correction, will replace Werholtz as the Kansas corrections secretary.
“This is a critical time of change and recovery for the Kansas Department of Corrections,” Kelly said in a statement.
“I’m pleased Jeff Zmuda has agreed to take on the important challenge of restoring our corrections system and improving morale across all facilities,” Kelly said. “He will continue our work to rebuild the agency while bringing new ideas and leadership to Kansas.”
In Idaho, Zmuda also served as chief of prisons overseeing operations for nine facilities, including public safety initiatives, security protocols and practices, mental health care and treatment, education services, and re-entry programs.
Zmuda replaces Werholtz who undertook a comprehensive review of the state corrections system that he found was understaffed, underpaid and overcrowded.
Werholtz has painted a grim picture of a state corrections system that he told lawmakers threatens the state’s greater safety over the long term.
After spending a month touring the system, Werholtz found a beleaguered department under a “great deal of stress.”
He described a system for lawmakers where there is employee burnout from working excessive overtime, too many inmates in too little space, insufficient training, and inadequate pay and benefits.
Many of the state’s prisons are at or above capacity, a trend that will likely continue. The state expects to have 10,577 beds online by January 2020, but the prison population is expected to be about 10,655. The population is expected to grow to 10,870 by 2021.
Kelly praised Werholtz for his review of the corrections department.
“I cannot say enough about the important role Secretary Werholtz has had in the transition and assessment of the department of corrections,” Kelly said.
“He dug deep and shared the problems that had been concealed for eight years. Not only that, he presented a plan to address the many challenges we face,” she said.
Werholtz’s last day will be May 31. Chuck Simmons, the current deputy secretary for facilities management, will serve as the interim secretary beginning June 1 until Zmuda becomes the acting secretary on July 1.
