Gary Mohr of Ohio correction department to join DPS next month
RALEIGH — Secretary Erik A. Hooks announced today that Gary Mohr, a nationally recognized leader in corrections, has agreed to serve as a Senior Executive Advisor to the N.C. Department of Public Safety. Mohr will focus exclusively on prison issues with the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice. In this role, Mohr will work with DPS leadership to build upon ongoing efforts to reform prisons and make them safer. He will begin his work in North Carolina on Sept. 10.
“I am excited North Carolina’s prison system will reap the benefits of Mr. Mohr’s decades of knowledge and experience in the corrections profession,” said Hooks. “We are firmly committed to making our prisons safer, and I am confident Mr. Mohr’s expertise, coupled with Judge Reuben Young’s leadership over the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice, will propel us forward in these reforms.”
Gov. John Kasich appointed Mohr director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) in 2011, where he will serve until August 31, 2018. He has more than 43 years of correctional experience – with service as deputy director and superintendent of the Ohio Department of Youth Services; deputy director for administration at ODRC; deputy director of the agency’s Office of Prisons; and as warden at three separate correctional institutions.
From 1992-1994, Mohr served as director of the Ohio Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice, where he led the investigation into the cause of the 1993 Lucasville prison riot. Many of his team’s recommendations for preventive measures and improved conditions were adopted by prison systems across the nation.
Mohr is the President-elect of the American Correctional Association.
In response to violent incidents at North Carolina prisons in recent months, state prison officials have implemented several reforms to improve safety and security. Among the reforms are better training and equipment for prison employees, tougher sanctions for inmates who assault staff, and new procedures and equipment to block contraband such as drugs, cell phones and weapons from reaching inmates. Mohr will help guide future reforms.
The Department of Public Safety has taken numerous steps to increase the safety of prison employees and offenders statewide. For information regarding prison reform efforts, including updated action items and reports, please visit the Prison Reform webpage.
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