secretary john wetzel

department of corrections, pennsylvania

John Wetzel, widely recognized as one of the thought leaders in and voices of corrections today, was appointed Secretary of Corrections for the PA DOC in January 2011 by Governor Tom Corbett following a 22-year career in county corrections that culminated in a position of warden at Franklin County Jail where he oversaw a 20 percent population reduction during his tenure. After Gov. Corbett’s defeat, he was reappointed by Governor Tom Wolf in January 2015 and again in January 2019. During his tenure as Secretary, not only did DOC experience the end of a 24-year average growth of 1,500 inmates per year but also the first population reduction in PA in over 4 decades, with a total reduction thus far of over 4,200 inmates. Secretary Wetzel has guided the Department in restructuring Community Corrections, the mental health systems and significant security enhancements while at the same time significantly reducing spending.