Andrew Friedrichs has been appointed as the director for the Office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division. Friedrichs will assume the role on March 1, 2026. He will hold the position with no term limit, set to expire only at the governor’s discretion.
As director of the Criminal Justice Division, Friedrichs will be directly responsible for directing funds from the Office of the Governor to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and local governments. These allocations will support criminal justice practices and ensure law enforcement are adequately equipped for daily operations.
Friedrichs currently serves as executive director for the Commission on State Emergency Communications – a role he has held for two years. Prior to joining the commission, he was with the Office of the Texas Governor for nearly eight years, working as director, deputy director, administrator, associate administrator and lead program coordinator of the Criminal Justice Division.
Before migrating his career to state government work, Friedrichs was a program coordinator at RMIT University. This shift followed a six-year stint with the US Navy.
Friedrichs has a master’s degree in justice and criminology from RMIT University, a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota and an associate’s degree in Multidisciplinary Studies from the American Military University.
Photo by LoneStarMike, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, from Wikimedia Commons
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