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Long-Serving Ohio Prisons Director Steps Down
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The state’s long-serving prisons director has stepped down after almost eight years.
Gary Mohr has been director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for almost all of Gov. John Kasich’s two terms. He oversaw more than 12,000 employees and close to 50,000 inmates. His last day was Friday.
Mohr made attempts to reduce the prison population one of his top priorities, with some success. The overall prison population was about 49,500 last month, compared with more than 50,000 in January 2011, the month Kasich appointed Mohr.
Mohr spearheaded efforts by Kasich and lawmakers to reduce the number of first-time, nonviolent offenders behind bars. But those efforts collided with the state’s opioid crisis, which has swamped the criminal justice system in the past decade.