Secretary Jeff Zmuda was appointed by Governor Laura Kelly to lead the Kansas Department of Corrections in 2019. He was sworn in on February 5, 2020.

Prior to joining Governor Kelly’s cabinet, Jeff spent nearly 32 years in service to the Idaho Department of Corrections. More than half of that time was spent in leadership roles, as both the organization’s deputy director and chief of prisons. In these roles he coordinated with stakeholders across the state and played a key role in the operations for nine state-run facilities, including public safety initiatives, security protocols and practices, mental health care and treatment, education services and reentry programs. Jeff also has extensive experience addressing personnel and operations challenges across a correctional system.

Jeff is a firm believer that while offenders are serving their time in prison, the department and staff should be working hard to equip offenders with the resources and skills they need to be successful upon their reentry to their community. With that in mind, he has made improving reentry services and workforce readiness among inmates one of his top priorities.

Jeff and his wife Cheryl have been married for 40 years. They have three grown sons, David, Daniel and Andrew.

Download Official Photo

----------------------------------------------

Hope Cooper was named deputy secretary of juvenile and adult community-based services in June 2019. Previously, she served as deputy secretary of community and field services since June 2016.

Cooper joined the KDOC in 2008 as a program consultant in the community corrections division prior to being promoted to the KDOC’s director of community corrections. At the time of her appointment to deputy secretary, she had been serving as warden of the Topeka Correctional Facility since 2011.

Prior to joining the KDOC, Cooper worked as a probation officer for the U.S. District Courts in Topeka and for Community Solutions, Inc., an adult day reporting center in Topeka.

She began her corrections career with Colorado-based Excelsior Youth Center, a treatment center for adolescent females.

Cooper has a master’s degree in counseling and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and criminal justice, both from Chadron State College, Chadron, Neb.

____________________________________________________________________________

Andrea Allen was named director of the KDOC's Northern Parole Region in August 2016.

Allen began her service with the State of Kansas in 1998 as a psychiatric security specialist for Kansas' Sexual Predator Treatment Program. Since that time, Allen has served at Topeka Correctional Facility as a corrections counselor, a reentry counselor, a mentoring coordinator, a contract substance abuse provider and most recently as a corrections manager II. In 2015, Allen completed the National Institute of Corrections Leadership Training Program. She also has served on several statewide committees including the Mental Health Task Force and the Corrections Care Coalition.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------