Pubdate: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 Source: Sun Herald (MS) Copyright: 2000 The Sun Herald Contact: http://www.sunherald.com/ Forum: Gina Holland DRUG ENFORCEMENT, CORRECTIONS GET NEW LEADERSHIP JACKSON - Gov. Ronnie Musgrove has concluded his major appointments by choosing two veteran lawmen with Mississippi ties to oversee prisons and drug-fighting efforts in the state. Musgrove on Monday named former Jackson Police Chief Robert L. Johnson to run the Department of Corrections and retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency leader Don Strange to direct the Bureau of Narcotics. ''These two agencies needed more change of direction than maybe any other agencies,'' said Musgrove, who took office last month. Johnson, 51, was Jackson's top officer from 1994 to 1997 and will resign next month from his job as chief of the Lansing, Mich., police force. ''It is difficult to say no to a dynamic governor like Gov. Musgrove,'' Johnson said at a news conference at the Capitol. Johnson said his career change was ironic considering ''I spent 28 years of my career sending people to prison.'' He replaces Corrections Commissioner James Anderson, appointed in 1997 by then-Gov. Kirk Fordice. Ron Welch, a Jackson attorney who represents inmates, said Johnson faces immediate challenges with anticipated prison crowding and pending legislative debates on funding for prisons and proposed revisions in sentencing laws. ''It will be very difficult to get up to speed,'' said Welch. He said the 4,200-worker agency has had turnover in the past but that there had been some stability under Anderson's tenure. Strange, 52, managed about 1,000 people as chief of intelligence for the DEA. Among cases he handled in his nearly three-decade career with the DEA were the death of billionaire Howard Hughes and the arrest of the Timothy Leary. The Meridian native, who now lives in Hattiesburg, said his top goal is restoring confidence in management of the Bureau of Narcotics. Critics of the agency, including Attorney General Mike Moore, have said the agency was not doing enough to help local governments with drug problems. Strange succeeds Tom Blain, who is retiring after three years in the director's job. Strange will earn $60,000 a year and oversee about 200 people. He said he will review the personnel structure and meet with state law officers and drug agents. Strange said law enforcement agencies nationwide are facing critical problems with methamphetamines. The Legislative Black Caucus had encouraged Musgrove to name a black director for the prison system. About 75 percent of Mississippi's inmates are black. Johnson is black, but Musgrove said the caucus had not suggested his hiring. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea