By Haggerty H.C.R. No. 308 77R17365 MMS-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The Texas Legislature is proud to recognize Wayne 1-2 Scott of Huntsville on the occasion of his impending retirement as 1-3 executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; and 1-4 WHEREAS, Mr. Scott joined the staff of the Huntsville Unit of 1-5 the Texas Department of Corrections in 1972, a year before earning 1-6 his bachelor's degree in business administration from Sam Houston 1-7 State University; over the ensuing years he was promoted 1-8 repeatedly, and in 1996 he received appointment as executive 1-9 director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the largest 1-10 of the state's agencies; and 1-11 WHEREAS, In that capacity, Mr. Scott is responsible for the 1-12 confinement and care of 151,000 felony offenders, as well as for 1-13 the supervision of 518,000 offenders on probation or parole; he 1-14 leads an agency of more than 40,000 employees and administers an 1-15 annual budget of $2.3 billion; and 1-16 WHEREAS, Imbued with a deep sense of professionalism and 1-17 integrity, Mr. Scott has respected the taxpayers' dollars by 1-18 implementing major reforms in the management of purchasing, 1-19 construction, and contract operations and in the management of the 1-20 agency's finances; and 1-21 WHEREAS, He has also instituted aggressive new policies to 1-22 ensure equal employment opportunity, cultural diversity, and the 1-23 elimination of sexual harrassment in the workplace, and has created 1-24 an Advisory Council on Ethics to increase staff awareness of 2-1 ethical issues and to facilitate the practice of ethical behavior; 2-2 and 2-3 WHEREAS, Mr. Scott has ably guided the agency toward the 2-4 achievement of its goals and advocated the revision of the 2-5 organization's mission statement in order to reflect its newly 2-6 strengthened commitment to crime victims; and 2-7 WHEREAS, To afford offenders the broadest range of 2-8 rehabilitation opportunities, Wayne Scott has introduced several 2-9 innovative treatment programs, most notably the Inner Change 2-10 Freedom Initiative, which was begun in 1996 as the first 2-11 faith-based pre-release program in a penal institution in the 2-12 United States; and 2-13 WHEREAS, Offenders now provide more than 280,000 hours of 2-14 work each month in community service through cooperative programs 2-15 that Mr. Scott has promoted between the department and local 2-16 communities; moreover, the agency has entered into a partnership 2-17 with Habitat for Humanity, and it supplies 2.5 million pounds of 2-18 food each year to Texas food banks; and 2-19 WHEREAS, By his personal example, Mr. Scott has encouraged 2-20 community involvement among department employees, who have in turn 2-21 volunteered their time and resources to the fund-raising activities 2-22 of the Correctional Peace Officers Foundation, State Employee 2-23 Charitable Campaign, and Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch 2-24 Run; and 2-25 WHEREAS, He has actively pursued accreditation for the 2-26 department's confinement facilities from the American Correctional 2-27 Association, resulting in accreditation for 15 state-operated 3-1 facilities and 7 privately operated facilities, and the 3-2 establishment of a program to gain accreditation for all 3-3 institutional units; under Mr. Scott's directorship, the Texas 3-4 Department of Criminal Justice has also received four Awards of 3-5 Excellence from the American Correctional Association; and 3-6 WHEREAS, This nationally recognized expert in the field of 3-7 corrections has served as a resource for correctional professionals 3-8 around the country; in 1997 the Texas Public Employees Association 3-9 honored him as its Texas State Administrator of the Year, and in 3-10 2000 Sam Houston State University conferred on him its 3-11 Distinguished Alumnus award; and 3-12 WHEREAS, The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has indeed 3-13 been fortunate to enjoy the leadership of this longtime agency 3-14 veteran, who has adhered to the highest standards of correctional 3-15 practice; now, therefore, be it 3-16 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 3-17 hereby honor Wayne Scott for his exemplary record of achievement at 3-18 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and express to him its 3-19 deep appreciation for his service and dedication to the people of 3-20 this state.