New Prison Warden Nominees to Get Closer Scrutiny

The new wardens whom Gov. George Deukmejian appoints to administer state prisons will undergo much closer scrutiny before their names are sent to the Senate for confirmation, the governor’s top assistant disclosed Wednesday.

Steven A. Merksamer, Deukmejian’s chief of staff, said a new screening policy developed within the last few days will subject proposed wardens to the same kind of background checks that other gubernatorial appointees must undergo.

Merksamer revealed the new procedure in response to questions during a breakfast meeting with members of The Times’ Sacramento bureau.

His disclosure was made six days after the governor’s abrupt withdrawal of the nominations of two wardens to head proposed prisons in Kings and Amador counties.

It also came against a backdrop of accusations--and denials--that Warden Joe Campoy of Folsom Prison tolerated sexual harassment of female guards by male correctional officers. Campoy, a veteran corrections administrator, was barely confirmed by the Senate last Thursday.

Director’s Choices

Traditionally, the state director of corrections, a gubernatorial appointee, recommends to the governor the people he or she wants appointed as wardens and prison superintendents. Governors routinely pass them on to the Senate for confirmation without a background investigation.

An unexpected firestorm broke around Campoy, causing embarrassment to the governor. In addition, both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate indicated that they had concerns about confirming Otis Loggins as warden of the Kings County prison.

Loggins’ nomination was withdrawn by Deukmejian, as was that of Roger Schaufel for the Amador County facility.

Administration spokesman explained that as a result of legislative criticism of appointing wardens for nonexistent prisons, a new policy was swiftly adopted that will delay appointing new wardens until a month or so before the new prisons are to be operational.

Although he refused to discuss Loggins or Schaufel or cite a specific cause for the stiffer screening of warden appointees, Merksamer said there “was a general view among a number of us that we ought to tighten up the process, so we decided to do that.”

He said that Deukmejian’s process of screening appointees is “far more intensive” than those of previous governors.