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WASHINGTON \u2014 Colette Peters, the director of Oregon\u2019s prison system, has emerged as the leading contender to run the federal prison system, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Peters, who has run the state\u2019s corrections department since 2012, is at the top of the list of candidates to replace Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal, who submitted his resignation in January but said he would stay on until a successor was named, the person said.<\/p>\n
The person was not authorized to discuss details of the job search and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
Peters would be the 11th person to lead the Bureau of Prisons since its founding more than 90 years ago, and only the second director with no prior experience at the agency, the Justice Department\u2019s largest. While many officials from inside the Bureau of Prisons applied for the post, the Biden administration was looking for someone who was focused on reforming an agency that has had cultural issues for decades.<\/p>\n
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has been leading the search for Carvajal\u2019s replacement.<\/p>\n
The leadership change comes in the wake of AP reporting that has uncovered widespread problems at the agency, including sexual abuse by correctional officers and critically low staffing levels that have hampered responses to emergencies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
The development was first reported by the Oregon Capital Chronicle.<\/p>\n
As director of Oregon\u2019s prison system, Peters is responsible for about 4,700 employees in an agency with a $2 billion budget. There are about 14,700 inmates in the state\u2019s 14 prisons. The state corrections department has also touted her role in the state\u2019s efforts to reduce the prison population and reduce recidivism.<\/p>\n
Peters has a master\u2019s degree in criminal justice from the University of Colorado Denver and a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology.<\/p>\n
Oregon\u2019s prison system, like many in the U.S., had a wave of COVID-19 cases and deaths, and Peters\u2019 agency has been criticized for not doing enough to respond to the pandemic behind bars. In Oregon, 46 people in the Department of Corrections\u2019 custody have died after testing positive for COVID-19, and more than 5,400 people have tested positive for the virus while in custody.<\/p>\n
In 2020, Peters publicly apologized for an inmate\u2019s death as the state prison system agreed to pay a record $2.75 million to the family of the man, who had died from the flu.<\/p>\n
The settlement came nine months after Michael Barton\u2019s family filed a $15 million wrongful death lawsuit accusing prison staff of failing to treat the 54-year-old man for the flu and then covering up his flu-related death.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n