Major H. Boothe-Brown Retires from Rustburg
Rustburg Correctional Unit
Submitted by: Barbara Woodhouse Submitted on: 3/12/2010
Major Boothe-Brown Rocks Into Retirement
Hazel Boothe-Brown, retiring after 32 years with the Virginia Department of Corrections, has seen and been a part of many changes that have taken place in the Department.
Ms. Boothe-Brown joined the Department of Corrections in November, 1977, as an employee at the “old” Deep Meadow Correctional Center. She began work at Powhatan Reception and Classification Center when that unit opened in 1978. After working in reception/classification, recruitment, personnel, inmate records and accounting, she made the decision to enter the operations aspect of Corrections and became a Corrections Officer.
Ms. Boothe-Brown rose through the ranks. She was selected as the first female Lieutenant at Dillwyn Correctional Center when that unit opened in 1993. In July, 1994, she was promoted to Institutional Operations Officer. On March 16, 1997, she was promoted to Assistant Superintendent at Caroline Correctional Unit 2. On September 11, 1997, Ms. Boothe-Brown became the Chief of Security (Major) at Coffeewood Correctional Center. As Major, she supervised a security staff of 230 employees and was responsible for an inmate population of 1100.

On January 10, 1999, Ms. Boothe-Brown became an Employee Ombudsman for the Northern Region under the supervision of Regional Director Larry Huffman. On June 10, 2002, due to a reorganization of the Department and the closing of the Northern Regional Office, Ms. Boothe-Brown was relocated to the position of an Region Inmate Ombudsman for the Ombudsman Services Unit and worked out of the Central Regional Office. On Dec. 25, 2003, she was promoted to Region Operations Manager for the Western Region. On September 10, 2008, Ms. Boothe-Brown was appointed by Director Gene Johnson to the Assistant Superintendent (Corrections Major) position at Rustburg Correctional Unit #9.
Ms. Boothe-Brown was a general mediator and certified by the Virginia Supreme Court to mediate General District Court cases. She was a Mentor of Mediation and mentored others who were working toward their mediator certification. In 2000, she created the lesson plan for the Basic Skills in Mediation that has been taught in the Northern, Central and Western Region. She facilitated classes for Northern, Western and Central Region DOC employees in Basic Skills in Mediation. She used her mediation skills to assist DOC employees in conflict resolution issues in the workplace.
Having been a Department of Criminal Justice Instructor since 1988, Ms. Boothe-Brown has taught classes to staff on policies, motivation, teamwork and writing of post orders, action plans and IOPs. She has also conducted Certification Workshops. She is a motivational speaker and has given speeches within the Department for Women’s Equality Day, Administrative Support Day and at Food Service Conferences.
Ms. Boothe-Brown has served as a member of the DOC Crisis Response Team since 1999. She is a member of the International Association of Correctional Officers, American Correctional Association, Virginia Correctional Association, Correctional Peace Officers Association, Virginia Administrative Support Association, Virginia Government Employees Association and the Virginia Mediation Network. She served as a member of the committee responsible for developing the first Strategic Plan for the Division of Institutions. Additionally, she served as a member of the Disabilities Services Board for Powhatan and Goochland Counties. She serves Botetourt County as a Voter Services Specialist and Assistant Chief, ensuring the fairness of the election process.
During her career, she has held positions at Deep Meadow, Powhatan Reception Center, Powhatan, Staunton, Augusta, James River, Dillwyn, Caroline Correctional Unit 2, Coffeewood, Rustburg Correctional Unit 9 and the Northern, Central and Western Regional Offices. She served two years as Certification Manager for the Northern Region under the supervision of W. P. Rogers, traveling to the 10 field units and 3 institutions in the Northern Region providing technical assistance in preparation for certification and security audits. She has also served as a team member on Certification, Security and Inspector General Audits.

Ms. Boothe-Brown attended Mary Baldwin and J. Sargeant Reynolds Colleges. She resides in Roanoke with her husband, Lee Brown, who is a retiree from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Virginia Department of Corrections.

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