PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The director of the Oregon’s state prisons is stepping down at the end of the year.
The Oregonian reports that 48-year-old Max Williams told Gov. John Kitzhaber on Monday that he accepted a job at the Oregon Community Foundation, a group that provides grants for programs helping children and families.
Williams took over the Corrections Department in 2004. He leaves as it faces yet more budget cuts and possibly a fresh wave of inmates that could require new prisons.
William says the opportunity to lead the Portland-based foundation was too good to pass up.
Prison reform was a late avocation for Williams, who was born and raised in Bend, graduated from Brigham Young University, and then went to work for IBM. He later earned his law degree and practiced for 12 years with the Portland firm Miller Nash.
