DPSCS Staff Biographies
- Gary D. Maynard, Secretary
- G. Lawrence Franklin, Deputy Secretary For Administration
- David Bezanson, Assistant Secretary For Property Services
- Richard Rosenblatt, Assistant Secretary For Treatment Services
- Thomasina (Tomi) Hiers, Assistant Secretary/Chief of Staff
Gary D. Maynard, Secretary
Gary D. Maynard brings more than 30 years of extensive correctional administrative experience to the job of Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Prior to his appointment, he served as Director of the Iowa Department of Corrections. In addition, he retired from the Oklahoma Army National Guard in 1995 as a Brigadier General with more than 32 years of service.
Mr. Maynard’s professional experience includes serving as Director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, Director of the Corrections & Public Safety Programs at the University of Oklahoma, Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Regional Director and Assistant Director for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, and Warden at both the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Oklahoma. He served as Assistant Commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Corrections, and as a psychologist for the Bureau of Prisons. In addition, he served as Adjutant General of the Oklahoma Army and Air National Guard and the Oklahoma Cabinet Secretary for Veterans’ Affairs.
Mr. Maynard’s professional activities include serving as President of the American Corrections Association (ACA). He also has served as a Commissioner and, since 1980, an auditor/consultant for ACA’S Commission on Accreditation for Corrections. He previously also served on the ACA’s Standards Committee. Other professional endeavors include serving as instructor and adjunct professor for several universities in the areas of corrections and criminal justice. Mr. Maynard is the author of the 15th Edition of Correction Officer, Thomson publications.
Mr. Maynard holds a Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma.
G. Lawrence Franklin, Deputy Secretary For Administration
Mr. Franklin continues his long-standing service to the Department. He brings 30 years of administrative experience to the job of Deputy Secretary with the first 13 years of his career in the private sector. After developing a plan that turned State Use Industries from a non-profit into a self-supporting state agency, Mr. Franklin used his expertise in financial planning, personnel administration, and automated system development to standardize, streamline, and improve the financial, human resources and procurement functions throughout the Department. He has also participated as a member in many statewide initiatives such as development of the state general ledger accounting system.
As Deputy Secretary for Administration, Mr. Franklin oversees Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, Labor Management, and Internal Audit Management. His oversight also extends to some of the Department’s boards including the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, the 911 Emergency Numbers System Board and the Maryland Commission on Correctional Standards.
Mr. Franklin is an alumnus of the University of Baltimore, where he graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in accounting.
David Bezanson, Assistant Secretary For Property Services
Driving around the State, David Bezanson can see his legacy everywhere: in shopping centers and office buildings, at correctional centers and corporate office parks. In 12 years with DPSCS, Mr. Bezanson has expanded Maryland's prison system with the construction of over 10,000 new prison beds. He has managed more than a half billion dollars worth of correctional projects, including Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center, the Maryland House of Corrections Annex, Western Correctional Institution and North Branch Correctional Institution near Cumberland.
Before joining the Department, Mr. Bezanson achieved an impressive career in commercial real estate development. He served as a commercial real estate project manager, building shopping centers; held the position of Assistant Vice President at USF&G, responsible for real estate property and corporate facilities management and construction management for the national branch office system, and served as Vice President at McKenzie and Associates overseeing the development of suburban office buildings.
Mr. Bezanson is an alumnus of Towson University where he graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration.
Richard Rosenblatt, Assistant Secretary For Treatment Services
In 2003, when the position of Assistant Secretary for Treatment Services was established, the Department turned to a veteran who possesses not only treatment experience, but impressive legal experience as well. An Assistant Attorney General for 20 years, Mr. Rosenblatt has also served as the Director of Patuxent Institution and the Director of Mental Health Services for the Department.
As Senior Counsel to DPSCS for Capital Litigation and a member of the Governor’s Task Force on the Fair Imposition of the Death Penalty, Mr. Rosenblatt provided valuable insight and policy information to lawmakers and the legal and corrections communities on the difficult issue of capital punishment.
As Assistant Secretary for Treatment Services, Mr. Rosenblatt manages a coordinated and integrated system of medical, mental health, substance abuse, and social service programs. This includes the oversight of $66 million of medical contracts for the provision of health services to the inmate population.
A graduate of Pennsylvania State University and the University of Maryland Law School, Mr. Rosenblatt has won many honors and awards, and has been published numerous times in the Maryland State Bar Journal.
Tomi Hiers, Assistant Secretary/Chief of Staff
Thomasina (Tomi) Hiers is the Assistant Secretary/Chief of Staff at the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. In this capacity Ms. Hiers coordinates the development and implementation of key projects, central to the Department’s mission. In addition, she oversees the operations of supporting functions within the Department such as training, policy, compliance and standards.
She recently served as the Director of Programs and Services, as well as the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary for Operations, at the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. In those capacities, Ms. Hiers lead the development of policy and programs in the areas of re-entry, victim services, quality assurance, and gender responsivity.
Prior to that, Ms. Hiers served as the Director of the Maryland Re-Entry Partnership (REP) Initiative at the Enterprise Foundation. Before joining the Enterprise Foundation, Ms. Hiers served as Assistant Director of the Baltimore City HotSpots Initiative/Comprehensive Communities Program (HS/CCP) for the Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice (MOCJ).
