The field of candidates to head the Cowley County Community Corrections department has been narrowed from 28 to eight.
The eight will be interviewed Tuesday. A decision could be made the same day, said County Administrator Leroy Alsup. The three county commissioners, Dick Bonfy, Carmelita Clarkson, and Gary Wilson, along with Alsup and Jennifer Passiglia, chair of the community corrections advisory board, will conduct the interviews.
Alsup said several officials worked together to narrow the list of candidates. The eight were selected based on prior experience and education, he said.
“It took quite a while to go through 28 (applications),” he said.
The director’s post opened when Tex Gough retired several weeks ago. Mike Knapp, an intensive supervision officer for the?corrections department, is serving as interim director.
The new director will oversee a $300,000 budget and five employees. The department currently has a caseload of 173?criminal offenders who were convicted of their crimes in Cowley County District Court and assigned to community corrections for supervision. They are all adult felony offenders. Crimes include?drug violations,?sex offenses, burglaries and rape.
