Gov. Nathan Deal has tapped a new head of Georgia’s Department of Corrections.

The governor on Monday nominated Homer Bryson, a deputy commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, to the post. He must be confirmed by the department’s board before he takes office.

Brian Owens, who has led the corrections department since 2009, was appointed to the five-member state Board of Pardons and Paroles. He fills the seat vacated by James Donald.

Bryson was the deputy commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources for four years, and was previously a conservation ranger and a colonel in the agency’s law enforcement section.

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