Director, Inmate Records and Processing

Harris County Sheriff's Office; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The Harris County Sheriff's Office is seeking a Director of Inmate Records Management to provide executive leadership for Central Records, Bonding, and Inmate Classification. This role drives process redesign, performance standards, and cross‑functional coordination with courts and County partners to improve accuracy and timeliness in inmate processing.

Responsibilities include directing managers, ensuring regulatory compliance, and partnering with IT to implement automation and integrated

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field; seven+ years of complex operations and records management experience will be considered.
• Experience leading process-improvement, organizational-change, or technology-implementation initiatives with measurable results.
• Proven ability to manage multiple direct-report managers and cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency with enterprise records or case-management systems and standard office software.

Responsibilities

• Provide executive leadership for Central Records, Bonding, and Inmate Classification, via managers and supervisors.
• Set division-wide performance standards and policies across multiple functions.
• Evaluate end-to-end information flow to reduce delays and improve accuracy in inmate processing.
• Lead process redesign to shorten processing times while maintaining legal and records accuracy.
• Develop and monitor KPIs and executive reports to guide improvement priorities.
• Ensure compliance with state/federal law, TCIC/NCIC, and relevant standards.
• Oversee technology evaluation and collaboration with IT to improve automation and integration.

Skills

Strategic planning

Data analysis

Change management

Budgeting

Communication

Relationship building

Decision making

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration / Public Administration / Criminal Justice

Master's degree in Business Administration / Public Administration / Criminal Justice

Tools

Office software

Enterprise records systems

Job description

General Summary

The Director, Inmate Records Management provides executive-level operational leadership and strategic direction for the Harris County Sheriff's Office Central Records, Bonding, Inmate Classification, and related inmate-processing functions. The Director is accountable for the effective performance, integration, modernization, and continuous improvement of these operations, with particular emphasis on processing accuracy, timeliness, regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and the reduction of unnecessary delays throughout the inmate-processing lifecycle.

The Director leads through assigned Manager(s) and Supervisors; establishes division-wide performance standards and operational priorities; evaluates workflows, staffing models, technology, and internal controls; and develops strategies to improve service delivery and information integrity. The position works across HCSO divisions and with courts, County departments, criminal-justice partners, and technology stakeholders to resolve systemic issues and improve the timely and accurate exchange and processing of information.

The Director is accountable for whether the system itself works well: identifying delays, errors, redundant activities, manual handoffs, technology gaps, and other barriers across the end-to-end intake-to-release process, and developing the strategies, performance standards, and technology solutions to address them. Daily operations, staffing, workflow execution, and routine performance management within Central Records, Bonding, and Inmate Classification are the responsibility of the Manager(s) and Supervisors; the Director's accountability is for the performance of the system as a whole, not its daily transactions.

Key Responsibilities

• Provides executive-level operational leadership and strategic direction for Central Records, Bonding, Inmate Classification, and related inmate-processing functions, working through assigned Manager(s) and Supervisors.
• Evaluates staffing models, organizational structure, and span-of-control options for the division and recommends the appropriate management structure (e.g., a single Manager over all three functions, or separate Managers per function) to executive leadership for approval; selects and hires the Manager(s) and other management-level personnel within approved positions.
• Establishes division-wide performance standards, operational priorities, and policies across Central Records, Bonding, and Inmate Classification, ensuring consistent practices across all three functions.
• Evaluates the end-to-end flow of information and work across the inmate intake-to-release lifecycle (booking, records entry, classification, bonding, court updates, release processing) to identify delays, errors, redundant activities, manual handoffs, and other barriers to timely, accurate processing.
• Leads process-redesign and workflow-improvement initiatives to reduce processing time and rework while maintaining or improving legal, operational, and records accuracy.
• Establishes and monitors key performance indicators and service-level measures for major division processes; develops executive-level reporting on processing times, accuracy, backlog, and workload trends, and uses that data to guide improvement priorities.
• Ensures compliance with applicable state and federal law, TCIC/NCIC requirements, Texas Commission on Jail Standards requirements, court rules, and Harris County policy governing records, bonding, and classification functions.
• Evaluates existing technology and information systems supporting the division's functions (e.g., JIMS, OMS, JWEB) and partners with Information Technology, County technology partners, and vendors to identify, develop, and implement solutions that increase automation, integration, accuracy, and efficiency.
• Directs and evaluates the Manager(s) and Supervisors within the division, establishing clear performance expectations and holding them accountable for daily operations, staffing, workflow execution, and employee performance within their areas.
• Serves as the senior civilian representative for the division in matters involving inmate records, bonding, classification, and related operational issues; develops effective working relationships with Detentions Command, courts, the District Attorney's Office, District Clerk, Pretrial Services, other law-enforcement agencies, and County departments.
• Reviews and resolves escalated or systemic issues affecting records, bonding, or classification processing, and reports outcomes and recommendations to executive leadership.
• Develops and manages the division's operational budget, staffing priorities, and resource allocation; develops business cases for staffing, technology, and process investments.
• Ensures 24/7 operational readiness across the division's functions, consistent with the continuous nature of inmate intake and release processing.
• Develops policies, standard operating procedures, and quality-control protocols for the division, and ensures they remain aligned with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Criminal Justice, Operations Management, Information Systems, Industrial/Systems Engineering, Organizational Leadership, or a closely related field.
• Minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in complex operations, records/information management, criminal-justice administration, detention/corrections operations, business-process improvement, or another highly regulated, high-volume operational environment, including five (5) years of management or senior leadership experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading significant process-improvement, operational-transformation, technology-implementation, or organizational-change initiatives with measurable results.
• Proven experience managing multiple direct-report managers and cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency with, or demonstrated ability to quickly evaluate and adopt, enterprise records or case-management systems and standard office software.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strategic planning and organizational leadership across multiple functional divisions.
• Data analysis and development of operational performance metrics.
• Change management and cross-divisional process redesign.
• Budgeting, staffing, and resource allocation.
• Sound judgment and decision-making in high-stress or time-sensitive situations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including presenting data and recommendations to command staff and external stakeholders.
• Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships across sworn and civilian command structures and with external criminal-justice partners.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.

Licenses and Certifications

• TCIC/NCIC certification required within an established period after hire, if not already held.
• Valid driver's license as required to perform assigned duties.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Criminal Justice, Operations Management, Organizational Leadership, or a related discipline.
• Direct experience with law-enforcement records, bonding, inmate classification, or related criminal-justice records functions.
• Senior management experience in a correctional, criminal-justice, court, public-safety, or other 24-hour high-volume operational environment.
• Formal training or certification in Lean, Six Sigma, continuous improvement, project management, or change management.
• Experience implementing or optimizing enterprise technology, workflow automation, records-management systems, or criminal-justice information systems.
• Bilingual proficiency in Spanish.

Work Environment & Physical Demands

• This position operates primarily in a professional office setting.
• The role requires comfort working in controlled-access environments, including housing units, intake, control rooms, and restricted law enforcement systems areas.
• This role is sedentary; the ability to lift and carry up to 15 pounds is necessary to lift files, boxes, and related materials.
• Standard use of computers, phones, printers, and related office and records-management technology.

Position Type and Typical Hours of Work

• Position Type: Full-time, Exempt, Professional Staff.
• Work Schedule: Typically Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Given the 24/7 nature of Central Records, Bonding, and Classification operations, availability outside standard hours is required as needed.

Other Duties

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this position. Management may, at its discretion, assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

Reporting Relationships

Reports To Position: Bureau Major

Supervises Positions: Manager(s), Records Management

Equal Opportunity Statement

Harris County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, or any other protected class in accordance with applicable federal and state laws.