February 21, 200
DOC Secretary Frank Appoints New Administrator to
Oversee Agency’s Division of Adult Institutions
Acting Administrator John Bett to Continue
Distinguished Corrections Career in New Leadership Role
MADISON – Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary Matt
Frank today announced the appointment of John Bett as Administrator of the
Division of Adult Institutions (DAI). Bett has been Acting Administrator
since November 2006, following the retirement of former Administrator
Steven Casperson.
“I am pleased to announce John Bett’s new position with the
Department’s leadership team,” Secretary Frank said. “With a career in
corrections and criminal justice that spans more than three decades, John
Bett brings a wealth of management experience and knowledge to his new
role. His leadership will be critical to the Department’s mission of
running safe and secure prisons.
"He is also committed to enhancing our rehabilitation programs and
moving the Department’s Re-Entry Initiative forward. While many inmates
serve long sentences in the prison system, most inmates sentenced to
prison eventually return to the community. John Bett is committed to the
Department’s efforts to improve prisoner re-entry with the goal of
preventing new crimes and creating safer communities by lowering the
recidivism rates of prisoners who return to the community.”
With a staff of more than 7,300 full-time employees, the Division of
Adult Institutions is the largest of the DOC’s four divisions. As DAI
Administrator, Bett will oversee 20 adult correctional facilities and 16
correctional centers, which together house more than 22,000 inmates. He
also will have supervisory authority over the Division’s Bureau of
Offender Classifications and Movement, the Bureau of Correctional
Enterprises, the Bureau of Health Services and the Planning and Operations
Unit.
Bett’s career in criminal justice and corrections dates to 1971, when
he started out as child care supervisor at the Milwaukee County
Child-Adolescent Treatment Center. After a stint with the Milwaukee County
Children’s Court Center-Detention Section, Bett joined Waupun Correctional
Institution (WCI) as a social worker in 1979. He became a social worker
for the Assessment and Evaluation Unit for WCI and Dodge Correctional
Institution (DCI) in 1981, and then moved to the Bureau of Offender
Classification and Movement in 1986, first as Assistant Section Chief and
then Section Chief in 1995. In 1999, Bett moved to the Wisconsin Parole
Commission and then to Deputy Warden at DCI. He became the prison’s Warden
the following year. Bett was appointed DAI’s Assistant Administrator in
2004.
Bett earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is a licensed Social Worker and is certified in
the Incident Command System. Bett is a member of the American Correctional
Association and the Wisconsin Correctional Association. He resides in
Waupun with his wife, Rae Jean. They have three adult children.
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02/22/07
