Pt. Mac chief to head Corrections

December 3, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Gov.-elect Sarah Palin appointed a local man to head the Department of Corrections for her administration.

Joe Schmidt, most recently superintendent of Point MacKenzie Correctional Farm, accepted an appointment as DOC commissioner, replacing Marc Antrim. Palin announced the appointment at a Nov. 28 news conference.

Schmidt has had a full career working corrections in Alaska, starting as a floor officer in 1988 at Glennwood Restitution Center, according to a report from the Palin team.

Schmidt, speaking by phone from his office in Anchorage, said he graduated from Wasilla High School in 1984, two years after Palin. He arrived in the Valley from Milwaukee 10 years before that, he said, and some things in his early life could be said to foreshadow his future.

The family had a dairy farm in Wisconsin, planned to move to Arizona but traveled to Alaska, just to see it, before moving south, he said. Like many Alaskans, they came to visit and never left.

Schmidt's father worked in corrections, beginning with a post at Palmer Correctional Center and eventually retiring as deputy commissioner, he said.

&#8220It's in the blood,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt graduated from Mat-Su College with an associate's degree in criminal justice in 1987, the report said. He and his wife and daughters live in Wasilla. Schmidt's other certifications include instructor ratings in live-scan fingerprinting, CPR and batons, as well as shotgun, revolver and pistol for Anchorage Police Department, the report said.

His appointment wasn't a bolt out of the blue, but a position he'd applied for and thought about quite a bit, Schmidt said.

&#8220I've been superintendent since 2002, and I've known Sarah Palin's message for years,” he said. &#8220I knew she was the governor I wanted to work for.”

The report from the governor-elect delivered part of her message.

&#8220Our Constitution and our conscience demand that we not only punish, but also rehabilitate those who violate our laws,” Palin said in the report.

Schmidt said he sees our country as being about freedom, and corrections taking some of those freedoms.

&#8220Our ethical boundaries have to come from within,” he said.

When the legislature is in session, Schmidt will spend most of his time in Juneau, because that is where the work will be, he said. But the other seven months of the year, he will have an office in Anchorage, closer to Alaska's correctional facilities, and saving time and money in travel costs, he said.

&#8220Commissioner Schmidt will bring with him experience as one of Alaska's most forward-looking correctional leaders,” Palin said in the report. &#8220Alaska's special challenges in this area demand innovative responses, and I am pleased he has taken on this opportunity.”

What Schmidt is most looking forward to in his new job is opening the new prison facility in the borough and having a chance to start the project right, he said.

&#8220Many communities in Alaska are smaller than (the proposed prison),” he said. &#8220I want to get it right: safe, efficient and fair - the same goals for the other facilities.”

Schmidt worked at nearly every corrections facility in Southcentral, including Spring Creek Correctional Center, Highland Mountain/Meadow Creek Correctional Center, Sixth Avenue Correctional Center, Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility, Cook Inlet Pre-Trial Facility, Palmer Correctional Center and the Anchorage Jail, where Schmidt was in charge of merging the Cook Inlet Pre-Trial and the Anchorage Jail into one operational unit call the Anchorage Correctional Complex, the report said.

The report credited Schmidt with merging the two $10 million pretrial facilities into the largest correctional complex in Alaska. He also managed the prison farm and increased food production ten-fold, the report said. Schmidt has a reputation as a hard worker who always holds the people of Alaska in the highest regard, the report said.

Schmidt's instructions are to pick his team and to be accountable for it, he said, and in doing so, he wants to set the direction and tone from the start, so he is being careful in his selections, he said.

Looking forward, Schmidt said he sees new challenges dealing with statewide issues and representing corrections around the state, while being responsive to his hometown, too.

&#8220This is the community I buy my groceries in,” he said.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.