SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The former corrections secretary for the state of Florida has been appointed to lead New Mexico's prison and parole system.
Julie Jones was designated secretary of corrections on Thursday by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
In Florida, Jones led a corrections department with more than 90,000 inmates and an annual $2.5 billion budget.
She arrives at a New Mexico corrections system with rising rates of recidivism and a prison population of about 7,300 inmates that swelled over the past decade.
About half of the state's inmates are held at private facilities. The Corrections Department has struggled to hire and retain officers and avoid the expense and dangers of overtime work.
Lujan Grisham and Jones say an emphasis will be placed on rehabilitation, including an evaluation of solitary confinement practices.
