[T]he head of the state Department of Corrections is stepping down and her top deputy will take her place.
Gov. Phil Scott announced in a statement late Tuesday afternoon that Lisa Menard plans to retire after more than four years as commissioner, and a total of 32 years with the department.
Scott added that Mike Touchette, the department’s deputy commissioner since May 2017, will take over for Menard as the head of the corrections upon Menard’s departure.
Touchette has worked for the department for more than 28 years, starting off as a correctional officer and working his way up from there, according to the governor’s statement.
Menard’s career at the department also included stints working as a correctional officer, and she climbed the leadership ranks to commissioner in 2015 when she was appointed to that post by then-Gov. Peter Shumin, a Democrat.
She was reappointed to the post by Scott, a Republican, in April 2017.
