Theresa Lantz

Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Corrections

"A New Day in Corrections: Three Years Later."

February 2

Theresa C. Lantz, who was appointed as the sixth Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Correction in March, 2003, will speak to the Y's Men of Westport/Weston on Thursday, February 2nd.   Her topic is "A New Day in Corrections, Three Years Later." The meeting begins at 10AM at the Saugatuck Congregational Church, 245 Post Road East   

Commissioner Lantz began her career in corrections as a front line correctional officer in the Washington, D.C. prison system in 1976. During that assignment she became the first woman correction officer in that department to work inside the maximum-security men's housing unit. After 12 years with the District of Columbia corrections system, she accepted a national position with the United States Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections Academy in Bolder, Colorado, as a Correctional Program Specialist from January 1988 through June of 1989. In this role she developed and coordinated training for executive and management correctional personnel for the purpose of improving the operation of state correctional systems.

Ms. Lantz began her tenure with the Connecticut Department of Correction in July of 1989 as the Director of Training and Staff Development. In subsequent assignments she also served as the Department's Deputy Commissioner for Administrative Services, and as Warden at three high security facilities: York Correctional Institution (newly constructed 550 bed multi-classification institution for women offenders which she opened in 1994); New Haven Community Correctional Center (high security detention center for 780 male, pre-trial and sentenced inmates); Corrigan Correctional Institution (high security facility for 830 male, pre-trial and sentenced inmates).

Commissioner Lantz has earned an Associates Degree in Law Enforcement, a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice, and a Masters in Criminal Justice. She is an adjunct instructor at Tunxis Community College, and has provided expert testimony for the U. S. Department of Justice and the New York Department of Corrections.

Ms. Lantz is affiliated with the Connecticut Criminal Justice Command Institute as an instructor, and is on the Institute's Board of Directors. She served as the President of the Board of Directors for Families in Crisis, Inc. from 1999-2000, and is a Criminal Justice Advisory Board Member for Tunxis Community College. While a Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Correction, Commissioner Lantz was honored with the Commissioner's Award in 2000 and received the Outstanding Managerial Performance Award in 1990, and each year during 1993-2000. At the time of her appointment, Commissioner Lantz was one of approximately a half dozen women state correctional commissioners in the United States.