Veteran corrections official Dennis M. Straub of Jackson has been named to manage the state's prisons for the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC).  

State Corrections Director Patricia L. Caruso today announced the selection of Straub as Deputy Director of the Correctional Facilities Administration (CFA). CFA is responsible for the operation of 42 prisons and 10 camps, including the reception and classification process, as well as the treatment and transfer of prisoners who are housed in a prison or a camp.

The appointment is effective October12, 2003.

Straub has been one of CFA's three regional prison administators since 2002. In that capacity he managed a regionally-based group of 15 prisons and one camp, housing more than 12,000 prisoners. Prior to that appointment, he served as warden of the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson. 

He began his career in corrections in 1972 as a prison counselor at a minimum-security facility near Grass Lake (the former Cassidy Lake Technical School which is now the department’s boot camp).  In 1976 he was appointed director of classification at the Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson.  In 1979 he gained the post of Resident Unit Manager at the State Prison of Southern Michigan (SPSM).  Later, he became deputy superintendent of the Reception and Guidance Center.  In 1981 he took the post of assistant deputy warden at what is now the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center where he stayed until moving back to SPSM in the same position.  He then moved to the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility as deputy warden in 1989 and became warden of that facility in 1994.

             Before joining the DOC, Straub served on the East Jackson Public School Board of Education and was an instructor for Jackson Community College's Criminal Justice Program.

Deputy Director Straub succeeds Caruso, who was tapped by Governor Jennifer Granholm for the MDOC director position earlier this year.

"Dennis Straub's extensive experience working inside the facilities and his remarkable leadership skills make him an outstanding choice to manage CFA," said Director Caruso.

Department of Corrections October 10, 2003