By Cody Stark
The Huntsville Item
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — As another year is winding down, the accolades keeping rolling in for Brad Livingston, executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
For the third time in the past two months, Livingston has been honored for his accomplishments and contributions to the criminal justice field. On Sept. 26, Livingston was named the 2015 Outstanding Director of Corrections when he was presented the Michael Francke Award by the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA).
Since being named TDCJ’s executive director in 2004, Livingston has worked with the governor and state Legislature to increase correctional and parole officers’ salaries and has established successful training and leadership development programs. He is also working to increase mental health and crisis intervention training for employees.
Livingston has also worked to improve TDCJ’s Re-entry and Integration Division and obtained funding for the expansion of the agency’s mental health services among other things.
The Michael Francke Award recognizes an outstanding ASCA member’s dedication to corrections and celebrates Francke’s exceptional career in criminal justice. Francke, who served as the director of the Oregon Department of Corrections, was murdered by a former Oregon inmate outside his office in January 1989.
In August, Livingston received the Edward R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award from the American Correctional Association for his innovative leadership, professional integrity and contributions to the criminal justice field. That same month, he was named the Agency Administrator of the Year by the Texas Employees Association for the fourth time.
The ASCA is a national organization representing the directors of corrections for each state, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and five large urban jail systems. Members also include the administrator of corrections in Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. The association’s goal is to continue to improve the correctional profession through its members’ experiences and knowledge.