Kelly Harrington

After a comprehensive nationwide search, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced that Kelly Harrington from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been selected to assume command of the Sheriff’s Department’s Custody Operations.

The LASD is the largest Sheriff’s Department in the United States and is responsible for operating and maintaining the nation’s largest jail system, providing custody services for the entire County of Los Angeles. Custody Operations include seven correctional facilities with a daily population of approximately 18,000 inmates. Custody Operations is charged with the care, custody, security and support services of all sentenced and pretrial inmates housed within these facilities.

Kelly Harrington brings to Los Angeles County a wealth of experience in promoting and sustaining improvements in the field of corrections today. Harrington was appointed to the Director of the Division of Adult Institutions in CDCR on June 11, 2015 and served as acting-Director since December 31, 2014 with oversight of the state’s adult inmate population. Before becoming Director he was appointed as the Deputy Director of Facility Operations on November 27, 2013. Prior to that, he served as Associate Director of the High Security Mission from 2010 to 2013.

Harrington was the Warden at Kern Valley State Prison from 2008 to 2010. He held multiple positions at Wasco State Prison from 2003 to 2008, including Chief Deputy Warden, Associate Warden, Facility Captain and Classification and Parole Representative. Mr. Harrington also served as Captain at the Community Correctional Facilities Unit. Harrington was a Correctional Counselor II Supervisor at North Kern State Prison from 1995 to 1997 and a Correctional Counselor and Correctional Officer at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi from 1987 to 1995.

In 2015, Mr. Harrington was appointed to serve on the Commission of Accreditation for Corrections (CAC), American Correctional Association (ACA). The CAC, in partnership with the ACA, administers the only national program of accreditation for all components of adult and juvenile correction facilities. Membership on the CAC represents participation in a far-reaching national effort to improve and innovate in the field of corrections today. Additionally, Harrington also serves on the ACA, Committee on Standards. This Committee is responsible for maintaining the currency of the ACA standards. The ACA standards have served to establish a fundamental operational structure for ACA facilities and agencies these standards interface with all aspects of operations, including safety, security, care, programs, justice, and administration.

Harrington attended California State University, Bakersfield and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice on March 21, 1987

Over the last three years, Assistant Sheriff Terri McDonald has led the LASD through complex negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice and was able to achieve a federal settlement that brings committed resources and best practices to our jail system. As a result, these changes have improved conditions and treatment for our inmate population and assisted the Department in addressing the challenges of running one of the largest mental health facilities in the nation.

Terri also worked diligently with the Board of Supervisors to move forward with a long overdue Correctional Treatment Center that will replace the dilapidated Men’s Central Jail. She has also developed a 20-year master plan for the jail system that will lead us well in to the 21st century.

It is my firm belief that Kelly’s background and experience in running one of the nation’s largest state prison systems makes him uniquely qualified to continue the extraordinary work that his predecessor Terri McDonald began. Harrington will be relocating here from Sacramento and is expected to join the LASD at the end of March.

I sincerely wish Terri McDonald the best in the next chapter in her life. I cannot express the gratitude and depth of appreciation for the work that Terri has done for this Department and the citizens of Los Angeles County as well as the countless inmates that she has helped over the last several years. We are grateful to Terri for leaving the Department better than she found it and know that she will be successful in her future endeavors.