DPSCS Staff Biographies
- Gary D. Maynard, Secretary
- G. Lawrence Franklin, Deputy Secretary for Administration
- David Bezanson, Assistant Secretary for Capital Programs
- Rhea Harris, Assistant Secretary/Chief of Staff
- John Michael Stouffer, Deputy Secretary for Operations
Gary D. Maynard, Secretary
Gary D. Maynard brings more than 30 years of extensive correctional administrative experience to the job of Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Prior to his appointment, he served as Director of the Iowa Department of Corrections. In addition, he retired from the Oklahoma Army National Guard in 1995 as a Brigadier General with more than 32 years of service.
Mr. Maynard’s professional experience includes serving as Director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, Director of the Corrections & Public Safety Programs at the University of Oklahoma, Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Regional Director and Assistant Director for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, and Warden at both the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Oklahoma. He served as Assistant Commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Corrections, and as a psychologist for the Bureau of Prisons. In addition, he served as Adjutant General of the Oklahoma Army and Air National Guard and the Oklahoma Cabinet Secretary for Veterans’ Affairs.
Mr. Maynard’s professional activities include serving as President of the American Corrections Association (ACA). He also has served as a Commissioner and, since 1980, an auditor/consultant for ACA’S Commission on Accreditation for Corrections. He previously also served on the ACA’s Standards Committee. Other professional endeavors include serving as instructor and adjunct professor for several universities in the areas of corrections and criminal justice. Mr. Maynard is the author of the 15th Edition of Correction Officer, Thomson publications.
Mr. Maynard holds a Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma.
G. Lawrence Franklin, Deputy Secretary for Administration
Mr. Franklin continues his long-standing service to the Department. He brings 30 years of administrative experience to the job of Deputy Secretary with the first 13 years of his career in the private sector. After developing a plan that turned State Use Industries from a non-profit into a self-supporting state agency, Mr. Franklin used his expertise in financial planning, personnel administration, and automated system development to standardize, streamline, and improve the financial, human resources and procurement functions throughout the Department. He has also participated as a member in many statewide initiatives such as development of the state general ledger accounting system.
As Deputy Secretary for Administration, Mr. Franklin oversees Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, Labor Management, and Internal Audit Management. His oversight also extends to some of the Department’s boards including the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, the 911 Emergency Numbers System Board and the Maryland Commission on Correctional Standards.
Mr. Franklin is an alumnus of the University of Baltimore, where he graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in accounting.
David Bezanson, Assistant Secretary for Capital Programs
David Bezanson, an alumnus of Towson University, came to the Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services in June 1991. He has spent more than 38 years managing large commercial and government construction projects. During Bezanson’s tenure with the Department, he has managed more than 700 million dollars worth of correctional construction projects. Those projects include the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center, the Maryland House of Correction - Annex, Western Correctional Institution and the construction of North Branch Correctional Institution near Cumberland. He has overseen the construction of over 10,000 new prison beds, some replacing antiquated/closed structures, throughout Maryland’s prison system. As Assistant Secretary for Capital Programs, he is currently overseeing the development and construction of the Youth Detention Center and the Women’s Detention Center in Baltimore City for the Division of Pretrial Detention and Services.
Before joining the Department, Mr. Bezanson achieved an impressive career in commercial real estate development. He served as a commercial real estate project manager, building shopping centers; held the position of Assistant Vice President at USF&G, responsible for real estate property and corporate facilities management and construction management for the national branch office system, and served as Vice President at McKenzie and Associates overseeing the development of suburban office buildings.
Rhea Harris, Assistant Secretary/Chief of Staff
Rhea Harris, a veteran of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services for nearly a decade, became the Assistant Secretary/Chief of Staff in 2012. Prior to this position, Ms. Harris served as the Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs.
As an Assistant Secretary/Chief of Staff, Ms. Harris supervises boards and commissions, the Inmate Grievance Office and the Administrative Remedy Process. She manages other projects at the Secretary’s direction and advises senior-level staff on policies, operations and systems designed to enhance the Department’s mission.
Prior to working for the Department, Ms. Harris served as the Maryland Public Affairs Manager for Washington Gas Light Company. She holds a J.D. from The Catholic University of America, an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University.
John Michael Stouffer, Deputy Secretary for Operations
J. Michael Stouffer currently serves as the Deputy Secretary of Operations for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Since assuming this role in November 2011, Mr. Stouffer is leading the consolidation of three major agencies (Division of Correction, Division of Parole and Probation and Division of Pretrial Detention and Services) into one cohesive and regionally-based operation focused on providing more effective programs and services to create the best chance for successful offender reentry into society.
Mr. Stouffer began his career as a Correctional Officer in May of 1980 and also served as a Deputy Sheriff for the Washington County Sheriff’s Department for three years. He ascended the ranks of the state’s correctional system where he most recently held the position of Commissioner of the Maryland Division of Correction within DPSCS. Previous positions included Acting Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner for the Western and Baltimore Regions of the Division of Correction, and Warden of the Maryland Correctional Training Center.
In addition, Mr. Stouffer has completed extensive hours of training at the National Institute of Corrections, the American Correctional Association, the Maryland Correctional Training Commission, the Sam Houston University, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Mr. Stouffer is certified by the Maryland Correctional Training Commission to instruct in Correctional Officer Survival, Use of Force, Emergency Plans, and Institutional Searches. He has received several awards, commendations, and recognitions for contributions to corrections and the Exceptional Employee Team Award from then-Governor, Parris Glendening in 1998.
J. Michael Stouffer has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Baltimore and an Associate’s Degree from the Hagerstown Junior College in the Administration of Justice, and is a proud graduate of the 2008 Leadership Maryland program.
Jon P. Galley, Operations Regional Executive Director - North
Now the Regional Executive Director of the North Region for Operations, Jon P. Galley has worked for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional services for 45 years, beginning his career with the Maryland Division of Correction in 1967 as a Correctional Teacher at Maryland Correctional Training Center (MCTC). In 1972, he became the Assistant Warden and in 1979 he was promoted as Warden of MCTC. In 1981 he became Commissioner of the Maryland Division of Correction (DOC).
In 1984 he returned to the field as Warden of Roxbury Correctional Institution until 1993 when he resigned to become Warden at the Montgomery County Detention Center and later served as Chief of Security at the Frederick County Detention Center.
In 1999, he returned to the Maryland DOC to accept the position as Warden of Western Correctional Institution (WCI). Under his leadership WCI became the first Maryland institution to achieve accreditation by the American Correctional Association. He became the Assistant Commissioner of the former West Region in 2007 and the Regional Executive Director of the North Region of the newly reorganized Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services in 2011 responsible for the oversight of six major Corrections institutions and Community Supervision offices in eight counties.
Mr. Galley serves as an auditor for the accreditation program of the American Correctional Association and has done consulting work for the U.S. State Department. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Frostburg State University and graduate degrees from Shippensburg State University and Southern Illinois University.
Wendell M. France, Operations Regional Executive Director - Central
Wendell M. France currently serves as the Regional Executive Director for the Central Region of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services’ Operations Division. The Regional Executive Director is responsible for managing five Corrections and Detention institutions and eleven Community Supervision offices within the region. The Central Region encompasses Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Carroll County.
Mr. France formerly served as the Commissioner for the Maryland Division of Pretrial Detention and Services, overseeing the operations for the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center, Pretrial Release Services Program, and the Baltimore City Detention Center with an average population of 3,900 detainees and processing over 80,000 arrestees a year.
Prior to this position, he served as the Assistant Commissioner for the Maryland Division of Correction – East Region. During his tenure with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, he has also served as an Assistant Warden at the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center and as a Warden at the Maryland Reception Diagnostic and Classification Center and the Maryland House of Corrections.
Before joining the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Mr. France’s was a member of the Baltimore Police Department for twenty seven years, rising through the ranks becoming a division commander before his retirement. Mr. France was also the Executive Director of the Citizen Complaint Authority, Cincinnati, Ohio, and served as a Consultant to the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice in connection with their pattern and practice Investigation of police misconduct in a number of jurisdictions.
He has earned his Bachelor of Science and Masters Degree from the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. He serves as an Adjunct Faculty member at Coppin State University, Baltimore, Maryland.
Patricia A. Vale, Operations Regional Executive Director - South
Patricia A. Vale, Regional Executive Director, has over 36 years of experience in the field of community supervision. She began her career with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a Parole and Probation Agent in 1976 in Prince George’s County.
During her tenure Ms. Vale has held virtually every position in the former Division of Parole and Probation from Agent to Acting Director. As Field Supervisor I, she served as a trainer for risk needs assessments and reassessments. Later, she was a trainer for the Division’s Proactive Community Supervision initiative. She has held positions in both the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, as well as, the Eastern Shore. As a Regional Administrator, Ms. Vale was responsible for field operations of the Eastern Shore and Harford County. Afterward, she over saw operations in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area counties and southern Maryland where she was an advocate for the Cross Borders Initiative which provides resource and information sharing with Virginia and Washington, D.C. As the Executive Deputy Director and then Acting Director for the former Division of Parole and Probation, she provided leadership, management and strategic planning for 1,200 employees as well as 65,000 offenders on probation, parole and mandatory supervision, in addition to 300 individuals on home detention.
In late 2011 when the Department reorganized, Ms. Vale was appointed to the position of Regional Executive Director for the South Region of Operations where she oversees several correctional institutions and eighteen community supervision field offices composed of southern Maryland, the Eastern Shore and the D.C. metropolitan area.
Ms. Vale also serves as the Commissioner for the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision for the State of Maryland, is a member of the Maryland Correctional Training Commission, Maryland Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council and the Maryland Sexual Offender Advisory Board. She holds memberships in several professional organizations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland and holds a B.A. in Criminology.
