Haley Announces New Director of Department of Corrections

From the Office of Governor

Gov. Nikki Haley on Thursday named Bryan P. Stirling as the acting director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC). 

Stirling has been Haley’s Chief of Staff since October 2012 and served as the state's Deputy Attorney General from 2006 to 2012.

He replaces current director, William R. Byars Jr., who announced his retirement in August after having served as the head of the SCDC for three years. 

Stirling will officially begin his duties as director beginning Oct. 1.

“When it came time to think of someone for the Department of Corrections, I wanted someone I knew I could work well with, someone that knows how I feel about our prison system, and someone that I trusted," Haley said in a release. "That person is Bryan Stirling and I am both proud and confident in his ability to continue the great work Judge Byars has established.” 

Stirling has worked for two private law firms, McAngus Goudelock and Courie, LLC, and Tompkins and McMaster, LLC, before entering state government. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1996 after earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of South Carolina in 1991.

As Haley’s Chief of Staff, Stirling oversaw management of the governor’s cabinet and the Office of Executive Policy and Programs. During his time as Deputy Attorney General, he served as a direct advisor to two Attorneys General and worked with the legislature on a wide range of criminal justice and budget issues, according to a release. Stirling has been active in the criminal justice system since 1996 and has prosecuted over 40 criminal domestic violence cases since 2004.

"The people of South Carolina can be confident that the reforms and strong foundation that Judge Byars has established at the Department of Corrections will continue and be built upon,” Bryan Stirling said in the release. “Having spent a great portion of my career working with law enforcement, I understand just how important our prison system is to the health of our state and I look forward to working to make it even more efficient, effective, and safe.”

SCDC houses just under 22,000 inmates and employs some 5,700 security and non-security personnel who work at 26 prisons around the state and at various facilities based in Columbia, the release said.