Bureau of Prisons seeking chief
Ex-head of Ohio lockup facilities among top contenders
WASHINGTON — The former director of the Ohio state prison system has emerged as a leading contender to run the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons, three people familiar with the matter told reporters.
Gary Mohr, who has also worked in the private prison industry, is among those at the top of the list of candidates to replace Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal, who submitted his resignation in January but said he would stay on until a successor was named, the people said Friday.
A final decision has not been made and it’s unclear when an announcement would be put forward, according to the people familiar. After this story was published, Mohr responded to an email seeking comment that was sent to a consulting firm where he works. He said he was “shocked to see an article describing me as a top contender” for the position and denied that he had applied or been interviewed.
The people familiar with the matter insisted Saturday that Mohr remained among those being seriously considered for the position.
If picked, Mohr would become the 11th person to lead the Bureau of Prisons since its founding more than 90 years ago, and only the second director with no prior experience at the agency, the Justice Department’s largest.
The leadership change came after Associated Press reporting that has uncovered widespread problems at the agency, including sexual abuse by correctional officers and critically low staffing levels that have hampered responses to emergencies.
Mohr has spent nearly 50 years working in corrections, starting as a teacher in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the agency he led from 2011 to 2018. After his retirement, he served as president of the American Correctional Association, a nonprofit trade association and accrediting body.
Mohr has also been a prison warden and, between stints in the Ohio system, was a consultant and managing director for CoreCivic, formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America, an owner and operator of private prisons and detention facilities.
As head of Ohio’s prison system, Mohr oversaw more than 12,000 employees and close to 50,000 inmates at 28 facilities. The Bureau of Prisons is budgeted for around 37,500 employees, operates 122 facilities and has about 157,000 inmates.
In Ohio, Mohr made reducing the state’s prison population a priority and spearheaded efforts to reduce the number of first-time, nonviolent offenders behind bars. He managed to trim it by about 1,000 inmates in his tenure but, upon his retirement, said he was “extraordinarily disheartened” he couldn’t do more.
Carvajal, 54, was appointed director of the federal Bureau of Prisons in February 2020 by then-Attorney General William Barr, just before the covid-19 pandemic began raging in federal prisons nationwide, leaving tens of thousands of inmates infected with the virus and resulting in 295 deaths.
The AP’s reporting exposing those problems compelled Congress to investigate and prompted increased calls from lawmakers for Carvajal to resign or be fired by current Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Carvajal “failed to address the mounting crises in our nation’s federal prison system, including failing to fully implement the landmark First Step Act,” a bipartisan criminal justice measure passed during the Trump administration that was meant to improve prison programs and reduce sentencing disparities.
Garland tasked Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco with leading the search for Carvajal’s replacement.
The Bureau of Prisons is the only Justice Department agency whose director isn’t subject to Senate confirmation. Currently, the attorney general can appoint someone to the position.