Bobby Lumpkin, current chief operating officer of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), has been appointed as the agency’s new executive director effective Sept. 1, according to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. He will succeed Bryan Collier, who is retiring Aug. 31 after nearly a decade leading one of the largest prison systems in the nation.
Collier first joined the TDCJ in 1985 as a clerk and held several roles, including correctional officer, parole officer, unit supervisor, program administrator, section director, parole division director and deputy executive director before taking the helm in August 2016. During his time as executive director, Collier oversaw about 146,000 people convicted of felonies and 490,000 on probation or parole, along with a staff of nearly 37,000 employees across the state.
The TDCJ leader is active in correctional professional circles, serving on the boards of the Association of State Correctional Administrators and the American Correctional Association (ACA), and as an ex-officio member of the Texas Department of Information Resources board. He contributes to several ACA committees, previously chaired the Adult Corrections Committee and presided over the Texas Corrections Association (TCA). In 2013, the TCA honored him with its Dr. George J. Beto Hall of Honor award.
Lumpkin also maintains an extensive background in law enforcement, starting as a correctional officer in 1990 and rising through the ranks to chief operating officer. During his time in the TDCJ, Lumpkin held roles as Agency Accreditation manager, deputy director of the Private Facility Contract Monitoring Division (PFCMOD), director of the Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Logistics Division, and director of the Correctional Institutions Division.
Lumpkin will oversee an agency operating more than 100 prisons, confronting significant challenges such as persistent staffing shortages and ongoing efforts to address inadequate air conditioning in many facilities. He will be tasked with addressing these operational challenges while maintaining the safety and security of both inmates and staff across the sprawling correctional system. His three-decade career progression within the TDCJ, spanning frontline operations to executive management, positions him with intimate knowledge of the agency’s complexities and institutional culture.
Photo by Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, from Wikimedia Commons
