A veteran law enforcement officer has been named director of Cowley County Community Corrections.
Mike Knapp was selected from six candidates interviewed Tuesday by the three county commissioners, the county administrator, and Jennifer Passiglia, chair of the community corrections advisory board.
“I think that the commissioners and I are very pleased, and think he will do an excellent job for the department,” said administrator Leroy Alsup.
Knapp has been the intensive supervision officer for the department for approximately two years and has been serving as interim director since Tex Gough, the former director, retired last month.
“I look forward to being the director,” Knapp said. “There is a good staff and I look forward to working with them.”
The commission received 28 applications for the job. The applicants were narrowed to eight for interviews Tuesday. Alsup said one of the eight has taken another job and one failed to show up for the interview.
Knapp’s law enforcement career began in 1987 when he joined the? Cowley County Sheriff’s Department as a road patrolman. In 1993, he was assigned to the multi-jurisdictional drug task force. He was promoted to patrol sergeant in 1995 and to captain in 1996 when he became the jail administrator.
Knapp moved to Alaska in 1999 and worked a short time as a special investigator doing national security clearances and intensive background investigations on federal employees. Then he served as court security officer for the U.S. District Court federal marshal’s service. In 2005, he transferred to the federal court in?Wichita and joined the local community corrections program in?February 2006.
“One of the things that are critical for that department is the completion of the grant applications for state grants,” Alsup said. “He (Knapp) had some introduction to that the last couple of years, and that was important.”
Knapp will oversee a $300,000 budget and five employees. The state Department of?Corrections provides the largest share of the budget. When Gough retired, the department was supervising 173 adult felony criminal offenders. Knapp will be paid $44,262, according to Alsup.
“We did have a strong pool of candidates,” Alsup said. “Everybody was in agreement” with Knapp’s appointment.
Knapp is married and presently living in Mulvane. He agreed to relocate to Cowley County.
“We do? like to see our department heads live in Cowley County and he was receptive to that,” Alsup said.
Knapp’s wife, Sharon, is the catering manager for Wichita State University. The couple has two daughters.
