TRENTON — From police officer to sheriff, then to U.S. Marshal, and now to the top spot at the state Parole Board, Ocean City resident James Plousis has made a career of serving the public in various law enforcement positions.
Gov. Chris Christie nominated Plousis to the chairmanship of the Parole Board in March.
According to the Asbury Park Press, Plousis, if confirmed by the state Senate, would replace former Assemblyman Peter Barnes Jr. as chairman of the board. The Press reported he would make approximately $123,000 heading the panel.
According to its Web site, the New Jersey State Parole Board is the state’s lead reentry agency, and works to ensure ex-prisoners return to society as law-abiding citizens. The Parole Board conducts numerous hearings, solicits input from victims and decides parole matters. In addition, the Parole Board is the state’s primary law enforcement agency responsible for sex offender supervision.
The Parole Board’s 2009 annual report stated the parole board and its staff conducted over 20,000 hearings last year. It held parole hearings for 10,710 State Prison inmates and 2,784 county jail inmates. The agency also initiated 2,432 revocation hearings and 430 rescission hearings as well as 2,098 quarterly reviews and 219 annual reviews for juvenile residents, held 621 hearings to set time goals for juvenile residents, and initiated 302 juvenile revocation hearings.
Plousis, 58, a longtime Republican leader, has been New Jersey’s Marshal since 2002, when President George W. Bush appointed him. In that post, Plousis had similar duties to those he had as county sheriff: providing security for federal courts, transporting federal prisoners, protecting witnesses and overseeing the sale of confiscated property.
Because New Jersey is one of 36 Senior Level Marshal positions in the country, Plousis’ salary was at least $117,787 plus an additional locality pay of between 14-35 percent.
According to Politickernj.com, Plousis is still this state’s U.S. Marshal despite having a Democrat in the White House for more than a year, because New Jersey’s two Democratic U.S. Senators have been unable to agree on a candidate to replace him.
Politickernj.com cited sources who said that Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez are divided between two candidates. Lautenberg believes that the senior senator ought to pick the U.S. Marshal, while Menendez thinks they should make the decision together, the Web site stated.
Prior to being named Marshal, Plousis served as Cape May County Sheriff from 1984 through 2002. He also served as a police officer in the Woodbine and Ocean City police departments from 1975 through 1984.
The governor’s office submitted Plousis’ nomination to the state Senate Judiciary Committee. If approved by that panel it goes to a vote by the full Senate.
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