NC Department of Correction News - June 1999 - Betty Echard will oversee District 25-B

NEWTON — Betty Echard was promoted to Judicial District Manager of District 25-B in Catawba County April 1. Echard, a former chief probation and parole officer, replaces Jeff Joines who was promoted to assistant division chief of the Fourth Judicial Division.

As JDM of District 25-B, Echard will be responsible for overseeing a staff of 41 employees with an offender population of more than 1,470 individuals.

"Betty Echard’s skill and experience working with probation in Catawba County have prepared her to be an effective leader of Judicial District 25-B," Secretary Theodis Beck said. "She will help strengthen Catawba County’s community corrections programs, improving our supervision and control of offenders."

A native of Catawba County, Echard began her career with the Department in 1978 as a probation officer in her home county. She was promoted to unit supervisor in 1987.

Echard graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne College in 1975 with a degree in sociology. She completed the Certified Public Managers Program and serves on the board of Catawba County’s Criminal Justice Partnership Program. In her role as JDM, she will be highly involved in two pilot projects underway in the county. One is a federal grant project for offenders with developmental disabilities, and the other is a sex offenders task force pilot.

"I hope to serve Catawba County and the staff here to the best of my ability into the year 2000," she said. "I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead."