NYC Mayor Mamdani Appoints Formerly Incarcerated and Jail Reform Advocate Stanley Richards to Head Department of Correction

Date:  02-01-2026 Richards was previously a First Deputy Commissioner for the DOC.

From AMNY: Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Stanley Richards on Saturday to lead the NYC Department of Correction (DOC). He is the first formally incarcerated person to head the department. “I appointed Stanley Richards as Commissioner of Correction,” the mayor said. “Decades after he served time in our city’s jails, Commissioner Richards will now be the first formerly incarcerated person to lead them.” The appointment comes on the heels of a federal judge’s decision to appoint former CIA officer Nicholas Deml to take the mayor’s place managing Rikers Island, the city’s troubled jail complex. Continue reading >>>