NAME — Jeffrey Beard.
AGE — 65.
PARTY — Decline-to-state.
POSITION — Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, overseeing about 132,000 inmates and more than 46,000 employees. The position pays $225,000 a year and requires Senate confirmation.
EXPERIENCE — Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections under former Govs. Tom Ridge, a Republican, and Ed Rendell, a Democrat, from 2001 until his retirement in 2010, overseeing more than 51,000 inmates and 16,000 employees. Consultant on corrections, security and mental health issues since 2010. Held various positions within the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections from 1972 until 2001.
He was a member of an expert panel that in 2007 advised California prison officials on ways to improve their prison and parole programs. He had been consulting for California's prison system since 2011 on ways to improve its mental health treatment for inmates.
EDUCATION — Doctorate and master of education degrees in counseling from Pennsylvania State University. Licensed as a psychologist in 1977.
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