Full Name
John Wetzel
Job Title
Secretary of Corrections
Company
PA Department of Corrections
Speaker Bio
With more than 26 years of experience, Secretary John Wetzel is widely recognized as a corrections thought leader.
Secretary Wetzel began his career as a corrections officer in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in 1989. He spent the next nine years in Berks County where he served as a correctional officer, counselor, treatment supervisor, and finally director of the training academy. In January 2002, he began his nine-year tenure as warden of the Franklin County Jail, where he led an effort to transform the correctional system. Under his leadership, Franklin County saw a 20 percent reduction in its incarcerated population while the crime rate also declined. Franklin County maximized its correctional continuum to reduce its reliance on incarceration while focusing on improving outcomes for offenders. Specifically, the county developed a day reporting center, established a jail industries program, and initiated several programs that improved services for mentally ill offenders, not the least of which was a certified peer specialist program.
Secretary Wetzel was appointed by then-Governor Edward Rendell to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. As the the board’s corrections expert, he led an effort to change the pardons process, which resulted in greater efficiency for the board and lower wait times for applicants.
In December 2010, Secretary Wetzel was selected as the 11th secretary of corrections for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by then-Governor-elect Tom Corbett. He presided over the first incarcerated population reduction in Pennsylvania in more than four decades, eliminating a 24-year average growth of 1,500 inmates per year. Additionally, he oversaw the restructuring of the community corrections and mental health systems, and a re-engineering of internal processes to deliver programs more efficiently.
In January 2015, Governor Tom Wolf asked Secretary Wetzel to continue as the secretary of corrections, making him the 12th person to hold that position for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Secretary Wetzel began his career as a corrections officer in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in 1989. He spent the next nine years in Berks County where he served as a correctional officer, counselor, treatment supervisor, and finally director of the training academy. In January 2002, he began his nine-year tenure as warden of the Franklin County Jail, where he led an effort to transform the correctional system. Under his leadership, Franklin County saw a 20 percent reduction in its incarcerated population while the crime rate also declined. Franklin County maximized its correctional continuum to reduce its reliance on incarceration while focusing on improving outcomes for offenders. Specifically, the county developed a day reporting center, established a jail industries program, and initiated several programs that improved services for mentally ill offenders, not the least of which was a certified peer specialist program.
Secretary Wetzel was appointed by then-Governor Edward Rendell to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. As the the board’s corrections expert, he led an effort to change the pardons process, which resulted in greater efficiency for the board and lower wait times for applicants.
In December 2010, Secretary Wetzel was selected as the 11th secretary of corrections for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by then-Governor-elect Tom Corbett. He presided over the first incarcerated population reduction in Pennsylvania in more than four decades, eliminating a 24-year average growth of 1,500 inmates per year. Additionally, he oversaw the restructuring of the community corrections and mental health systems, and a re-engineering of internal processes to deliver programs more efficiently.
In January 2015, Governor Tom Wolf asked Secretary Wetzel to continue as the secretary of corrections, making him the 12th person to hold that position for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
