Dayton appoints former probation officer to head Minn. prisons

Gov. Mark Dayton has picked a northern Minnesota attorney with a corrections background to head state prisons.

Dayton's office announced Thursday that Thomas Roy will become corrections commissioner, moving from his job leading a northeastern Minnesota corrections agency.

Roy is a former probation and parole officer who heads Arrowhead Regional Corrections, serving five northeastern counties. He has also worked in the attorney general's office and for U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who succeeded Dayton in the Senate.

Roy succeeds acting commissioner Christine Bray in overseeing 10 state prisons, probation, supervised release and parole.

Dayton also named attorney Lee Sheehy to head the Commission on Judicial Selection, which vets candidates for the bench. Sheehy was co-chairman of Dayton's transition team.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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