TDCJ News
TDCJ Executive Director Bryan Collier to retire August 31
June 5, 2025
TDCJ Executive Director
Following a long career of public service, Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Executive Director Bryan Collier announced his intention to retire effective August 31, 2025. He assumed the role of Executive Director on August 1, 2016.
In addition to guiding the agency through Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19, Collier’s leadership was instrumental in decreasing the recidivism rate to one of the lowest in the country, coordination with State’s leadership to secure significant pay raises for correctional staff and parole officers, and investing in the rehabilitation and reentry of those incarcerated. Under his leadership, the agency embraced innovation — breaking ground on a new state-of-the-art training facility, issuing tablets to more than 130,000 inmates, and implementing transformative programs such as the Field Minister and Life Coach approaches to peer support, and the STRIVE inmate self-improvement curriculum.
“Bryan Collier is an outstanding servant leader who has contributed greatly to the advancement of TDCJ and corrections as a whole,” Texas Board of Criminal Justice Chairman Eric Nichols said. “His visionary leadership and unwavering dedication will leave a long-lasting legacy with the agency and our great State of Texas.”
With 40 years of service to the agency, Collier has held a wide variety of positions to include clerk, correctional officer, parole officer, section director, parole division director, deputy executive director, and executive director. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in criminology and corrections from Sam Houston State University. Collier is a member of the American Correctional Association (ACA), serving on the Board of Governors, Vice President, and as Vice-Chair of the Performance-Based Standards Committee. He has received numerous awards including ACA’s Best in the Business Award, Correctional Leaders Association (CLA) Edward R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award, CLA Michael Francke Career Achievement Award, and Dr. George J. Beto Hall of Honor Award.
The Executive Director is appointed by the nine-member Texas Board of Criminal Justice. Following this announcement, Chairman Nichols said the board would begin the process of appointing a new executive director.