Another list of people tapped by Gov. Mike Kehoe has been approved to serve in Missouri leadership positions, or on boards and commissions.
The latest slate of names includes James Kent Oberkrom as a member of the Board of Probation and Parole. Oberkrom talked about sentence inconsistencies and looking at ways to change that.
“Somebody for manslaughter might get, coming out of major metropolitan areas in this state, four years and then out state they were maybe getting 8 or 10,” Oberkrom said. “Sometimes people serve a lot of time in a county jail, and they get credit for that time. So, if they get a 4–5-year sentence and they’ve sit in a county jail for 2 years, that time is calculated into that process. So, it creates a poor image.”
Another key appointment receiving Senate confirmation is Angela Nelson, the new director of the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance. Her job is to oversee the state’s insurance industry and various commercial activities. She was appointed by Kehoe and assumed the directorship role for the Department of Commerce and Insurance on March 1.
Nelson said Missouri needs to focus on improving workplace safety policies.
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen some really good trends. Employers are doing a very good job improving workplace safety, which means the frequency, the number of claims that are occurring on the workplace are actually going down,” said Nelson. “What we have seen, unfortunately, is the types of injuries are more severe, making them much more costly.”
The appointees also included Jennifer Keller to serve as member of the State Committee of Psychologists. Keller, a licensed psychologist, serves as Senior Director of Behavioral Health – Counseling Clinics and Psychology at University Health. She addressed a question on if there are a lot of behavioral problems today.
“One thing is, I think we’re a little bit better at diagnosing, but I also think that sometimes we over pathologize things,” said Keller. “So, I think it really depends on the circumstance, but I do think that there are better interventions in the child/early childhood. So, one of my focuses is more proactive approaches to prevent those problems later on in life.”
In addition, Scott Albers, Bill Severn, and Richard Todd Michalski were given the green light to serve as members of the Missouri Western State University Board of Governors.
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