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Date Posted: 10:23:34 11/04/07 Sun
Author: Washinton Version
Subject: Washington state prison chief coming to Massachusetts

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Washington prison chief Harold Clarke, acclaimed as one of the country’s top corrections officials but a lightning rod in the state, is resigning to become the top prison official in Massachusetts.
Gov. Chris Gregoire accepted Clarke’s resignation Friday and thanked him for his "significant contributions to public safety in Washington."
In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick told reporters, "I think the nominee, designee, is a terrific professional. He has depth and experience and judgment in the area of corrections management. We need strong leadership in our corrections."
Patrick is the state’s first black chief executive. Clarke will be only the second black to head the Massachusetts prison system. Clarke also is president-elect of the American Correctional Association.
Gregoire, like Patrick a Democrat, has been assailed by her Republican critics for the administration’s handling of prisons, particularly for the crimes committed by ex-felons who return to the streets. Her GOP challenger for re-election next year, Dino Rossi, has made it a major campaign theme.
Gregoire did not request the resignation, her staff said, but she was clearly distressed at being seen as bumbling on the public safety issue. She served 12 years as Washington’s attorney general and has long considered crime-fighting one of her strengths.
She made glancing note of the controversy in her statement. "This has not been an easy task for Harold or his family and on behalf of the people of Washington, I thank him for his service," Gregoire said.
The governor did credit Clarke with designing a re-entry program for inmates who return to their home communities and said he has improved the state’s 15 prisons.
Clarke’s resignation is effective Nov. 23. He’ll take over the top post in Massachusetts shortly thereafter.
Patrick offered Clarke the job late Thursday and gave him a mandate to revamp the Massachusetts prison agency, with more emphasis on re-entry programs and staff training.
"We made some reforms that were thoughtful, proposed by a commission that my predecessor put together, that still need to be implemented," Patrick said. "And we have to start dealing with the fact that we must have a criminal justice strategy which is both firm and fair, which is to say we want swift and certain punishment for the bad guys and girls, but we also have to deal with the fact that 90 some-odd percent of the people who are in corrections facilities will be released one day, and they need to be released prepared to rejoin a productive society."
The Massachusetts system has 11,000 inmates, 18 facilities and a $500 million budget. That is somewhat smaller than Washington’s system, which has 18,000 behind bars and 25,000 offenders under community supervision.
Clarke had been Nebraska’s longtime prison chief when Gregoire chose him to join her cabinet when she was inaugurated in January 2005. His wife, Marie, has been an assistant attorney general.
Clarke came under fire over the deaths of three King County lawmen at the hands of ex-cons last fall. Two Seattle police officers were killed in separate car crashes with ex-convicts, while a third ex-convict shot and killed a county sheriff.
Shortly thereafter, Clarke faced criticism for the release of dozens of convicts, mostly in King County, before they served their full jail sentences for violating their probation.
Clarke also was criticized by the corrections employees, who complained about prison overcrowding and Clarke’s own style and performance. Some union workers had called for a no-confidence vote, but it never was taken.
A spokesman for the Massachusetts correction officers’ union did not immediately return a call for comment.
Clarke’s departure was first rumored when a chief deputy, veteran prison official Eldon Vail, was brought in last month to help Clarke run the agency. But Gregoire’s press secretary, Lars Erickson, said Clarke’s departure was not engineered.
"He found another opportunity," Erickson said. Asked flatly if that means the governor didn’t sack him or ask him to move on, he said, "That’s correct."
In his brief letter of resignation, Clarke told the governor he appreciated her backing him and the agency. He sent Department of Corrections staffers a much longer letter saying he had mixed feelings about leaving and outlined a long list of accomplishments.
Rossi’s campaign hadn’t directly rapped Clarke, but has railed against Gregoire’s handling of crime and corrections.
Spokeswoman Jill Strait said: "I don’t blame Director Clarke for wanting to leave the state. I’m sure he must be tired of being used as Gregoire’s scapegoat."
The first black corrections commissioner in Massachusetts was John O. Boone, who last served 33 years ago.

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