Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs Shares Department Vision in Baltimore Sun Op-Ed

July 23, 2026

Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs

Growing up in East Baltimore, I could have easily become a statistic. But through the endless support of my family — and the community I’m proud to come from — I was given the opportunity to forge a career rooted in public service and safety. My journey through the ranks of officer to warden and beyond paved my pathway to become the first homegrown Black woman secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS). And throughout my life, I’ve held fast to Martin Luther King Jr.’s belief that “everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. … You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant.”

DPSCS faces many of the same challenges that other correctional departments face across the country. But I pledge to the citizens of our great state that we continue to work tirelessly to overcome those challenges in order to keep everyone safe — the public, our staff, the people in our care — while honoring the Moore-Miller edict to “leave no one behind.”

Let’s be clear, though: That task was not made easy. In the eight years before this administration began, almost 1,800 state correctional positions were eliminated. Sentencing reform has also shifted non-violent offenders from state prisons to local jails and community-based supervision — meaning that those who remain in prison are the more violent offenders serving longer sentences. Further, about one of every three of our incarcerated individuals suffers from some form of mental illness — nearly twice the rate of Maryland’s general population.

But all of that makes what we’ve achieved all the more commendable. Since 2023, we’ve worked with the union, budget analysts and the General Assembly to restore most of those lost positions. Through these efforts, the department vacancy rate has been cut nearly in half; and in 2025, we hired 684 correctional officers — more than any year in the last decade.

These successes have been necessary to protect our communities. Given that 80% of incarcerated individuals will one day be released, it is important that we rehabilitate them and provide each of them access to mental health professionals, substance use treatment and counseling groups and services. We’re also proud that most of our incarcerated population are employed, enrolled in educational courses, participate in rehabilitative programming or engage in the faith-based services that we offer.

As a result of our efforts, Maryland’s return-to-incarceration rate for a new offense or technical revocation is 15% lower than the latest comparable national data — validating our efforts to uphold justice, renew hope and protect the public.

This achievement would not be possible without the incredible and hard work of our staff and correctional officers. Having worked in both Maryland’s pretrial facilities and the Division of Correction, I know firsthand how difficult it is to be on the frontlines. That is why DPSCS has invested $6.8 million in workforce incentives to strengthen recruitment, retention and staffing across our facilities. We have also identified some solutions to address staffing challenges and are committed to working with the union on a path forward.

Further, we continue to make vital facility upgrades to improve safety. As of this month, correctional officers at every prison are provided body-worn cameras that can decrease physical confrontations by roughly 40-50%, making correctional officers safer, ensuring they are held accountable and protecting them from false accusations: a win, win, win for our justice system.

Yet despite these achievements, I know our work is not yet finished. According to a U.S. government report, state prisons became nearly 50% deadlier over the last five years across the country. Last month, I unfortunately had to take the decisive action to ban eight medical staff and place 19 correctional officers on emergency suspension, pending the outcome of internal and Maryland State Police investigations into alleged violations of Department policies and standards of conduct.

At DPSCS, the mission is our values: to lead with grace, show love to our employees and incarcerated individuals and earn the right to be that servant.