The Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) Director is scheduled to testify Thursday morning before a House subcommittee in Jefferson City.
Missouri Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe testifies before a House committee in February 2017 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)
DOC Director Anne Precythe will testify Thursday morning at 9 before the Missouri House Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct.
Governor Eric Greitens (R) said last June that Precythe “inherited a mess“, which he said included low morale and corrections officers being mistreated.
The subcommittee held numerous hearings in 2017, and released their final report last May.
Subcommittee recommendations included implementation of a zero tolerance policy and a 24-hour hotline.
Subcommittee chairman State Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Frankford, said then that the recommendations were aimed at eliminating what he described as the “hostile work environment” in which Corrections employees were subjected.
The Department of Corrections’ workforce environment has received focus from lawmakers, after a scathing investigative series was published in the “Kansas City Pitch” in November 2016.
House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, appointed this subcommittee in January 2017, after the “Pitch” investigation.
Governor Greitens said last June that prisoners need to learn a trade, earn their GED and have faith leaders teach them “right and wrong.” Greitens emphasized the importance of reducing recidivism.
The subcommittee, chaired by Representative Hansen, has four members.
State Reps. Kathie Conway, R-St. Charles, Tim Remole, R-Excello, and Bruce Franks Jr., D-St. Louis, also serve on the subcommittee.
