Gov. Dannel P. Malloy nominated Scott Semple Wednesday to serve as Correction Department Commissioner.
Semple has been the acting commissioner since August 2014 when James Dzurenda resigned to take a job with the New York City Department of Correction. Like Dzurenda, Semple has a long history with the Correction Department, beginning his work as a correction officer back in 1988.
Since then, he has entered into a number of different positions within the department, eventually in 2009 becoming Warden of Garner Correctional Institution, which specializes in treatment for adult male offenders with significant mental health issues. He then was promoted in 2013 to deputy commissioner of Operations and Rehabilitative Services.
Semple will still need to be confirmed by the legislature.
He is one of a handful of agency commissioners who have been acting in that capacity since a vacancy arose between Malloy’s first and second term.
Malloy has yet to nominate commissioners to the departments of Banking, Education, Development Services, Insurance, and Veterans Affairs.