Kenny Jones heads Probation and Parole board

Former Moniteau County Sheriff and state Rep. Kenny Jones is the new head of Missouri's Probation and Parole board.

Jones, of Clarksburg, replaces Jefferson Citian Ellis McSwain Jr. as the board's chairman.

McSwain - a former probation and parole officer, Algoa Correctional Center warden and manager at other Department of Corrections institutions - has been on the board since 2009.

Jones was named to the board in February 2012. He represented Moniteau County and a portion of Cooper County in the Legislature from 2005-11, leaving after three terms to run for the state Senate, eventually losing a four-way primary to current Sen. Mike Kehoe.

Jones also was Moniteau County sheriff from 1985-2005, after serving on the Highway Patrol from 1974-85.

Jones' children include Caleb Jones, who succeeded his father as state representative in 2011 and resigned from the House in January after Gov. Eric Greitens chose him to be his deputy chief of staff.

State law gives the governor authority to name the board's chairman and vice chairman.

Probation and Parole is a division of the Department of Corrections.

Corrections spokesman David Owen said Wednesday the board currently has no vice chair.

Serving on the board is a full-time job, with all board members appointed for six-year terms, unless they're named to complete someone else's term.

The board's website notes the seven-member board oversees the state's more than 40 Probation and Parole district offices, as well as six community supervision centers and a community release center.

Division officers supervise offenders who are on probation, parole or conditional release.

The Parole Board also conducts investigations and provides information to the governor on all applications for pardons, commutations of sentence, reprieves or restorations of citizenship.

The change in board chairmanship was one of several Corrections department changes announced since Greitens named Anne Precythe to head the department.

Last month, veteran Matt Sturm was named Precythe's deputy director. Sturm has been with the department more than two decades and was the Offender Rehabilitation Services division director since 2012.

The department is losing veteran David Dormire, currently Adult Institutions division director, when he retires on April 1.

The department also announced several changes involving the Kansas City Reentry Center (KCRC).

Lilly Angelo, KCRC warden since December 2014, last week was named as district administrator for Probation and Parole's District 4B, effective this past Monday.

Her deputy warden, Leesa Wiseman, was appointed as unit supervisor in District 4C.

Sonny Collins, a 20-year Corrections veteran who had retired, was named the KCRC warden, effective Monday. Before his retirement, Collins was warden at the Maryville Treatment Center.

Larry Denney, another retiree who, most recently, served as warden at Cameron's Crossroads Correctional Center, was named KCRC's deputy warden.

Since late last year, the department has been dealing with mounting criticism about its employee morale and culture, after the state lost several lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and hostile work environments.

Several investigations have been launched by lawmakers and by State Auditor Nicole Galloway.

Greitens promised Precythe would change the department's culture.