Escambia Hires New Corrections Director

February 2, 2017

Escambia County has hired Tamyra Jarvis as the new director of corrections, responsible for the oversight of the Escambia County Jail, Community Corrections Division and the Road Prison.

Jarvis joins Escambia County from Coleman, FL, where she served as the CEO and complex warden at the Federal Correctional Complex within the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Jarvis’ first day with Escambia County was Wednesday.

In her previous job, Jarvis supervised more than 1,500 employees and was responsible for the management of the largest federal correctional complex in the United States, which houses approximately 6,500 inmates in five separate institutions.

She graduated from West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in family resources and a master’s degree in business with a minor in labor and management relations. Prior to serving as the complex warden, Jarvis was the warden at the Federal Correctional Complex’s 1,500 bed high-security male facility from September 2011 to July 2012. In that position, Jarvis directed specialized inmate programs, initiated efforts to expand reentry programs and coordinated a regional reentry summit, among other accomplishments. She also served from March 2009 to September 2011 as the warden for the complex’s 2,000 bed low-security prison for men, where she coordinated program review preparation for the Correctional Services Department and received the first-ever Superior rating in the Bureau of Prisons’ history at a Federal Correctional Complex.

Jarvis has received several honors and awards during her 25-year career in corrections, including the national Excellence in Prison Management award from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, awarded for high professional standards and outstanding leadership skills. She is also a member of the Senior Executive Service, the Association of Women Executives in Corrections and the Bureau of Prison’s Health Service Division Governing Board, along with its Medical Staffing and Management Committee.

Jarvis said she’s excited about the opportunity to move to the Gulf Coast with her husband, Jeff, and work with Escambia County’s Corrections Department.

“I’m looking forward to a challenge,” Jarvis said. “I’ve been with the Bureau of Prisons for 25 years, and working in corrections at a county level is very appealing to me.”

Jarvis’ vision for corrections aligns with the Escambia County Corrections Department’s mission, which includes a focus on community corrections. Jarvis said she hopes to expand the utilization of community corrections, which provides criminal justice alternatives for nonviolent offenders while promoting a safe environment.

“I’m interested in community corrections because it lowers recidivism rates, gives the individual an opportunity to maintain their family ties, to stay at home with their families while they are transitioning from jail or prison,” Jarvis said. “They’re able to maintain employment at that time, and it gives them an opportunity to receive the treatment and the assistance they need to successfully transition back into their communities.”

Comments

7 Responses to “Escambia Hires New Corrections Director”

  1. No Excuses on February 2nd, 2017 10:09 pm

    To all you Nay Sayers – I know of Ms. Javis and she is well respected by both staff and inmates alike in the BOP. Wardens come into daily contact with inmates and expect all of their staff to do the same. I bet you will see some positive changes in the DOC in Escambia County. Hiring an EXPERIENCED outsider is not always a bad thing! The BOP is the prison model for the rest of the world, and they get visitors from all over the world who want to see how they do things. Give her at least a year before you start bad mouthing!
    I’ve worked with the BOP for the past 19 years, and I can assure you, she knows her stuff if she was at Coleman.

  2. Molino Mom on February 2nd, 2017 5:59 pm

    According to ‘the net’, $165,000 per year…

  3. Dennis HE Wiggins on February 2nd, 2017 5:53 pm

    @Chris in Molino ~ That matters A LOT. Even if she never has any contact directly with an inmate, if she has never been in an Officer’s shoes, she will not be able to look at it from “the inside.” This is true regardless of hte profession. I worked for a company whose CEO graduated from Harvard but, to the best of my knowledge, had no experience in retail sales. While he may be able to make things look good on paper, he has no idea whether the things for which he was asking were something that the average worker “in the trenches” could accomplish with the limited resources available. In his perfect “classroom theory” world, it probably WOULD work, but that does not guarantee it works in the REAL world! What was it Atticus told Scout? “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” If she’s never worked in the same position as the employees she’s managing, she’s never climbed “into [their] skin and walked around in it.”

  4. chris in Molino on February 2nd, 2017 1:55 pm

    @BB– What would that matter ? A director would very very rarely have any contact with an inmate anyway. Very similar to her former position. For that matter, it’s rare for an inmate to get to deal with a Sgt unless their in trouble or happen to catch one going to recreation by chance.

  5. BB on February 2nd, 2017 11:55 am

    …soooo, was she really ever an actual corrections officer? Lots of education, and accolades, but did she ever have experience dealing with inmates? Good luck to her.

  6. bartender on February 2nd, 2017 9:54 am

    well im glad to see a woman in there but im surprised they didnt hire within the dept.they usually do.tells me one thing its not the good ole boys over there as it is with the road dept..its ashame there is not more woman at the road dept cause women can work just as hard as some of those men.they always have an excuse why there arent no women working there.

  7. Bobby C on February 2nd, 2017 7:57 am

    I think the County would’ve been better served by choosing an insider as opposed to an outsider. Someone who’s been here know the problems that are unique to our County Jail. Especially after the explosion and the rebuilding efforts being so drawn out.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News