ANNAPOLIS - Governor Martin O'Malley today announced the selection of Gary D. Maynard to be Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
"In the course of the transition process, very few departments have concerned me as deeply as the management of our correctional institutions," said Governor O'Malley. "We need a proven leader to turn around safety and programming within our prisons. We have deep challenges that we need to address and turn around. Gary Maynard is the best there is and we are lucky to have been able to recruit him given Maryland's deep challenges."
Most recently, Maynard was Director of the Iowa Department of Corrections. Maynard was also Director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, where he managed over 23,000 inmates and an annual budget of over $300 million. Previously, Maynard worked as a corrections consultant and adjunct professor of corrections.
During his 32 years in the Army National Guard, Maynard earned the rank of Brigade Commander, and was awarded the Legion of Merit. For three years, Maynard served as the Adjunct General of Oklahoma, in charge of 13,000 military personnel.
"I am honored that Governor O'Malley has nominated me to serve the citizens of Maryland as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services," said Gary Maynard. "I believe, like Governor O'Malley, that we have a strong obligation to protect the citizens of Maryland, protect and equip our state corrections officers and employees, and protect our offenders. In the coming months and years, we will run a professional department, where we will secure our prisons, strengthen our ex-offender re-entry programs, and most of all fulfill our mission to safeguard the public."
Maynard is a graduate of East Central University (B.A. - Sociology), Oklahoma State University (M.S. - Counseling Psychology), and The University of Oklahoma (A.B.D. - Counseling Psychology).
Source: Governor O'Malley's Office