Cape Girardeau native appointed to state parole board

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, serving as acting governor, appointed Cape Girardeau native David E. Bertrand to the state Board of Probation and Parole today pending confirmation from the Senate.

Bertrand has been a probation officer with District 22 of the Missouri Department of Corrections probation office for about 23 years, he said.

"I'm quite honored, and looking forward to it," Bertrand said.

He also serves as a court officer for Cape Girardeau County Circuit Judge William L. Syler.

Bertrand has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Southeast Missouri State University.

He graduated from Central High School in 1972, in the same class as Kinder, Kinder said.

"It's not every day you get to appoint a longtime friend and classmate to a state board position," Kinder said.

The two have known one another since the seventh grade, Kinder said.

As a board member, Bertrand will help determine the release of individuals from confinement in the Department of Corrections through conditional release, or parole. Each of the state correctional centers holds parole hearings monthly.

Kinder said Bertrand will make an "excellent" addition to a group of Probation and Parole personnel he feels are capable of managing a burgeoning prison population.

As of Thursday, there were 30,365 prisoners in the Missouri Department of Corrections, according to department spokesman Dean Watson.

"It's a big problem," Bertrand said.

Bertrand said he intends to work toward making sure that dangerous inmates are kept away from society, while offering treatment options to those convicted of lesser crimes.

Bertrand's term on the parole board would end Aug. 28, 2014.

The salary for the position is $80,675 per year.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245

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