A veteran attorney who has worked as a correctional officer, public defender and organized labor leader is poised to take the reins of the newly formed Office of Correctional Ombudsman after Gov. Wes Moore announced her appointment Friday.

Yvonne Briley-Wilson will serve as acting ombudsman after working in high-ranking roles in SEIU Local 500 and the Michigan Education Association. She will need to be confirmed by the Maryland Senate in the upcoming legislative session. Lawmakers scoured state coffers to supply the office with a modest $1 million budget for its first year of operation, though that funding, from the governor’s public safety office, is not meant to be a recurring source.

The ombudsman’s office, which was established earlier this year, will operate as an independent agency with the potential to reshape the Maryland prison system. It is tasked with investigating complaints; setting up a grievance system; monitoring mental health and health care trends; examining vocational programs; and looking at policies, such as the use of restrictive housing.

At least through its first year, the agency’s investigative scope will be narrowed to the Jessup Correctional Institution campus.

Sen. Shelly Hettleman of Baltimore County, who sponsored the bill creating the office, said she has not yet met Briley-Wilson but that the “depth of her professional experience should serve her well in that position,” aiding her ability to get buy-in from correctional staff as well as prisoners, all of whom have the ability to submit complaints.

“This is going to be a safe place for anyone who is affiliated with the system to bring their issues,” Hettleman said. “That means workers, it means people who are incarcerated, it means their families. So, at least on paper, she has a diversity of experience that any one of those sources could feel comfortable that she would be able to relate on.”

Hettleman said there are existing state agencies that can help the newly formed office get off the ground prior to Briley-Wilson’s confirmation and that the state has already identified office space for the agency.

“I think it’s full steam ahead,” Hettleman said.

There will be no shortage of issues with Maryland prisons for the ombudsman to examine. In this year alone, The Baltimore Banner has reported on a seemingly preventable murder by a cellmate, a prisoner who endured months of sexual abuse, severe staffing shortages and escalating violence, the state’s struggles to abide by federal guidelines in its treatment of trans prisoners, the prison system’s problematic former health care provider and the settled medical malpractice cases for which taxpayers foot the bill.

Heather Warnken, executive director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said that the announcement is being celebrated by the criminal justice reform advocacy groups who worked hard on lobbying for the law’s passage. She described Briley-Wilson as a “strong pick” by the governor.

“We have a long way to go in addressing the injustices and inhumane conditions that too often persist behind the walls but are hopeful this will bring needed improvements for those living, working and visiting their loved ones in these institutions,” Warnken said.

Hettleman, the state senator, said the ombudsman’s office is likely to expand in its size and scope as it gains its footing, though that is “going to take some time and effort.”

“It [the ombudsman’s office] has the potential to bring accountability and transparency to our correctional systems that frankly just hasn’t been there,” she said.