Advisory Board

brought her to prisons, rehabilitation facilities, and churches with the intention of educating communities on the needs of this population. Marsha sits on the executive board for the Capital Region Ex-Offenders Coalition, is an advisory board member for Correctional Ministries Chaplains Association, and is a trainer and facilitator for Healing Communities of PA. She earned her associate degree at Harrisburg Area Community College, her bachelor’s at Lebanon Valley College, and an MA in public service leadership.

is responsible for the confinement and care of approximately 146,000 felony offenders, the supervision of roughly 490,000 people on probation or parole, and the management of nearly 37,000 employees statewide. Bryan began his career in adult corrections more than three decades ago, having joined the TDCJ in 1985 as a clerk. Since then, he has held a wide variety of positions with the agency, including correctional officer, parole officer, unit supervisor, program administrator, section director, parole division director, and deputy executive director. Bryan is an active member of the Association of State Correctional Administrators and the American Correctional Association (ACA), and serves as an ex-officio member of the Texas Department of Information Resources board. He sits on numerous committees for the ACA, including the Awards Committee, the Board of Governors, the Congress Program Planning Committee, and the Standards Committee. Bryan formerly served as chair of the ACA Adult Corrections Committee, is a past member of the ACA Delegate Assembly, and a past member and president of the Texas Corrections Association (TCA). Bryan has been recognized as one of ACA’s “Best in the Business” and received the Dr. George J. Beto Hall of Honor award from the TCA in 2013. He has a BS in criminology and corrections from Sam Houston State University.

Public Defender Council, Ms. Corley served four years as General Counsel at the Department of Education and also served as legal counsel for both the Indiana Senate and Indiana House of Representatives. Her career includes clerking for Hon. Carr Darden. Ms. Corley served as a Marion County Public Defender Agency as trial counsel as well as appellate counsel.

elected justices, judges, and circuit court clerks. Laurie previously practiced law in Kentucky and South Carolina; she was also executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy and a staff attorney in the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. She has a BA and JD from the University of Kentucky.

justice system, and youth at risk for truancy or juvenile delinquency. OVSJG also provides policy-making expertise, advice, and counsel to the executive on evidence-based practices that respond to, intervene in, and prevent victimization and enhance responses to trauma. Prior to her appointment, Michelle worked with the Stalking Resource Center of the National Center for Victims of Crime for nearly a decade, serving as the director for over nine years. She previously served as a program specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime and has over 20 years of experience working on the local, state, and national level in the movements to end stalking, sexual assault, and domestic and dating violence. Michelle has trained internationally on these issues and has published numerous articles on stalking. Michelle received her Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Chicago.

Judge Keller is the chairman of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission and a member of the Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission, and a former chair of the CSG Justice Center Advisory Board. She is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a member of the Judicial Advisory Council to the Community Justice Assistance Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. By virtue of her office, she is also vice-chair of the Texas Judicial Council. In 2003, Presiding Judge Keller received the Distinguished Alumni Award for Judicial Service from the SMU Dedman School of Law. A native Texan, she holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Rice University and a JD degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law.

Council, which included a year as mayor pro tempore. In 2007, Lovick was elected as Snohomish County Sheriff, a position he served in until 2013, when he was appointed the Snohomish County Executive. Lovick served as a state trooper in the Washington State Patrol for 31 years, and was named Trooper of the Year in 1992. He also served in the United States Coast Guard for 13 years.

as a public defender to advising two governors on public safety and legal issues. As its acting director, Joe is responsible for overseeing the operations of the agency, which serves approximately 1,400 youth ages 12‐24 at any given time. Immediately before joining OYA as deputy director in June 2012, he ran the Policy, Planning and Legislative Analysis Division at the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System. Prior to his state government service, Joe was a trial attorney in Portland. He began his legal career as a public defender, which included a stint in juvenile court. Afterward, he spent several years in private practice representing members of law enforcement, corporate officers, lawyers, and employees. Prior to attending law school, he worked in a Latino farmworker community in Central Washington as a volunteer housing program coordinator through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest. Joe received his undergraduate degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and his juris doctorate from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Sheriff Mehr received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Law Enforcement from the University of Tennessee Martin and his Master’s Degree from The University of Memphis.  He is a 2008 graduate of the Tennessee Government Management Institute. Sheriff Mehr’s first job was as a Police Officer with the Bells Police Department. In 1975, Mehr joined the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as a Special Agent for the Criminal Investigation Division and was assigned to the Nashville, Murfreesboro, Jackson and Dyersburg, Tennessee areas. After 10 years of service as a Special Agent, he was promoted to Special Agent Coordinator of Drug Investigations for the Western Tennessee District of the T.B.I.   He served the Bureau in this capacity from 1985 until 1991, and was appointed to Special Agent in Charge for the Western District of Tennessee, Criminal Investigation Division, in which he served from 1991 until his retirement in 2012. Sheriff Mehr’s continuing professional education includes a graduate of the F.B.I. National Academy, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 139th session; F.B.I. Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar. A graduate of the Drug Enforcement Administration Officers Academy, Drug Enforcement Administration Drug Commander Supervisory Training Program, FBI’s Tennessee Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar and the National Sheriff’s Institute. Sheriff Mehr’s certifications include Certified Law Enforcement Officer, Tennessee Law Enforcement Planning Commission; Certified Fraud Examiner, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Austin, Texas; and he held a Top Secret Clearance with Federal Bureau of Investigation until his retirement from the TBI. Sheriff Mehr’s memberships have included, F.B.I. Domestic Terrorism Working Group; the U.S. Department of Justice; Association of Certified Fraud Investigators; the F.B.I. National Academy Associates; and the West Tennessee Criminal Investigators Association, where he served as President from 2000–2002 and honored as Officer of the Year for 2005-2006. Past awards include Certificate of Appreciation, Department of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (May 1985); Certificate of Appreciation, Memphis Police Department (July 1986); Certificate of Appreciation, 25th Judicial District State of Tennessee, U.S. Attorney General (March 1991); Special Commendation Award, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney General (January 1992); Certificate of Appreciation (U.S. Secret Service (1992); and Award for Public Service, U.S. General Services Administration, Inspector General’s Office (June 1994). Director’s Award from Tennessee Highway Safety Office in 2018, Union University 2018 Champion of Victims’ Rights Award. Sheriff Mehr serves on the Freed Hardeman University Mid-South Youth Camp Advisory Board. UT Law Enforcement Innovation Center Board, Madison County E911 Board Statewide Tennessee CIT Task Force Committee. Tennessee Pre-Arrest Coalition. He has also has been an Adjunct Professor for University of Tennessee at Martin. Recently appointed to the State Board of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

implemented an innovative in-house service for clients with co-occurring mental illness and chemical dependency and adopted a holistic defense practice with assistance from the Center for Holistic Defense, sponsored by the Bronx Defenders Office in New York. In 2015, her office created the Flathead Reservation Reentry Program that provides interdisciplinary, supportive services for tribal members returning to the reservation from incarceration. Miller served on Montana’s Public Defender Commission for six years and Montana’s Statewide Reentry Task Force for two. She currently serves on the Missoula Criminal Justice Coordinating Council that seeks criminal justice reform in Missoula, Montana.

since 1996. He is a past president of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association and served as the general chair of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Midsize Agencies Division. Chief Ramsay received his BA in criminology and sociology from the University of Minnesota-Duluth and his MA in management from the College of St. Scholastica. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy Session 222.

Oversight Committee and has worked with residential programs for troubled youth for more than 35 years. Sen. Sears began his public service in 1987, when he was elected to the Bennington Select Board, where he served for seven years before his election to the Vermont State Legislature in 1992. Sen. Sears received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont.

of Representatives for six years. Senator Sims is the lead budgeteer for the Senate Democrats and he is also the Chair of the Appropriations Committee. Some of his top priorities include public safety, education, and economic development.

Georgia following more than 10 years as the elected solicitor-general of Henry County, Georgia. He previously practiced law as a sole practitioner and served as the solicitor for the City of McDonough Municipal Court during those three years. Additionally, Spahos is a certified police officer, having been a patrol officer, a narcotics investigator, and later the Chief Investigator of the Flint Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office; and also served as an assistant district attorney upon graduating from law school. Spahos received his BS in criminal justice from Mercer University in 1994 and graduated magna cum laude from John Marshall Law School in 1997. Spahos served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 1987-1992 and was on active duty during Operation Desert Storm.

at the Orient Correctional Institution and regional director of the DRC, before being named assistant director in 1991. In 2005, Governor Bob Taft appointed him the director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS). Under his leadership, the department achieved national accreditation for all of its programs, earning DYS the American Correctional Association’s distinguished Eagle Award. In May of 2010, Governor Ted Strickland appointed Stickrath the director of the Department of Public Safety, where he oversaw the State Highway Patrol, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and Homeland Security. In January 2011, Attorney General Mike DeWine tapped Stickrath to serve as superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, overseeing the state crime lab and a team of law enforcement professionals. Stickrath also chairs Ohio’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. He has served extensively as a consultant on criminal justice issues to various organizations and state governments. Stickrath received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from The Ohio State University and his JD from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, and in 2011 received the University’s “Distinguished Service Award."

Pennsylvania in more than four decades, a restructuring of the community corrections and mental health systems, and a re-engineering of internal processes to yield a more efficient program delivery. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the corrections field, including as a corrections officer, treatment counselor, warden, and training academy director. He is a member of the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections, which is focused on reducing prison populations. He is also a member of Harvard’s Executive Session on Community Corrections, which is a joint project of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the National Institute of Justice that works to shape the future of community corrections policy in the United States. He is a graduate of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and, in May 2016, was presented with an honorary doctorate degree by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

presides over jury trials and the county’s old case calendar. Previously, he served as judge of the Court of Claims, Acting Supreme Court Justice, and judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, presiding over Drug Treatment Court, Mental Health Court, and Youth Court. Earlier in his career, Justice Zayas served as the principal law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Rolando T. Acosta at the Harlem Community Justice Center, a multi-jurisdictional, problem-solving court serving the communities of East and Central Harlem. He is a frequent lecturer and presenter on legal and judicial subjects including drug, mental health, and youth courts, and conducts seminars for new judges. Justice Zayas received his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Fordham University’s College at Lincoln Center and his JD from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Charles Evan Hughes Fellow.