WV.gov
Text size A  A  A
Report: Gov. Justice appoints Mark Sorsaia as Secretary of Dept. of Homeland Security

Governor Justice appoints new chair, member to WV Parole Board

12/10/2018

Dec. 10, 2018

Gov. Justice appoints new chair, member to W.Va. Parole Board

 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Gov. Jim Justice has selected two law-and-order veterans to serve on the West Virginia Parole Board, including one as its chair.

 

Jennifer Saad and Cedric Robertson were appointed effective Dec. 9, each to terms ending in June 2023.

 

Saad, who was also appointed chairperson, retired last month from the federal Bureau of Prisons. She had started her nearly 30-year career with the U.S. Department of Justice as a correctional officer in 1989. After rising to positions of increasing responsibility, Saad became a warden in 2015.

 

While warden of the Federal Correctional Institution, Gilmer, in 2016, Saad was appointed to the federal Senior Executive Service (SES). She was also named New Warden of the Year in 2016, for her exceptional leadership skills and for reentry initiatives that contributed to lower recidivism rates among releasing offenders.  

 

“I am humbled by the governor’s appointment, and honored to serve the State of West Virginia,” Saad said. “I look forward to the new assignment.”

 

Robertson served for more than 30 years on the Beckley Police Department. After joining the force in mid-1975, Robertson made detective in 1981 and later became chief of detectives in 1999. He retired as a captain in 2006. He was later elected to Beckley City Council for two terms, and most recently worked as a criminal investigator for the state Tax Department.

 

Also thanking Gov. Justice as well as Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary Jeff Sandy, Robertson noted that the “duties and responsibility of such an important appointment cannot be taken lightly.”

 

“From my career in law enforcement, I know that there are many variables in human characteristics that have to be understood when considering crime and punishment,” Robertson said. “I am confident that I bring additional perspective and strength to the Parole Board process.”

 

Part of the W.Va.  Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, the nine-member Parole Board performs a critical role in the state’s criminal justice system.  Hearing cases in panels of three, it contributes to public safety by facilitating the return of offenders to society as law-abiding citizens.  Besides its independent oversight of conditional releases for adult offenders, it also makes clemency recommendations to the governor.

 

 

 

# # #

LAWRENCE MESSINA (304) 558-2930 Lawrence.C.Messina@wv.gov