Correction Advisory Committee ranks three finalists for Connecticut ombudsman, flags funding and staffing shortfalls

At a public hearing of the Correction Advisory Committee in Connecticut, the panel ranked three finalists for the permanent correction ombudsman position and said it would transmit the list to the governor for final selection. The committee announced its ranking after an executive-session deliberation: No. 1 Devon Ward; No. 2 Keisha Ellis; No. 3 Dawn (Don) Poindexter. The committee did not provide a public vote tally when it announced the ranking.

The hearing focused less on making an immediate appointment than on candidates’ plans to stand up an office that committee members and public speakers said currently lacks sufficient staff and funding. Ty Guiley, co-chair of the Correction Advisory Committee, framed the panel’s legal duty: the committee’s statutory role is to recruit, vet and rank three candidates and present a ranked list to the governor.

Why it matters: the ombudsman’s office is intended to investigate complaints from people incarcerated in state facilities, identify systemic trends, and recommend changes to improve conditions, medical care and grievance processes. Candidates and the interim ombudsman described heavy caseloads, medical and mental-health staffing gaps, and procedural barriers that can delay or block remedies for people inside.

Devon Ward, the interim ombudsman and the committee’s top-ranked finalist, told the committee he has handled the office’s work single-handedly since September and has tracked nearly 250 individual claims to date. “I…