George Beto

George John Beto (January 19, 1916 – December 4, 1991) was a director of the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC), a criminal justice expert in penology, a professor, and a Lutheran minister.

He enrolled in Concordia College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1930 and completed the six-year pre-seminary program in five years.

[1] In his career, he greatly expanded the industry of prison-manufactured goods and oversaw the construction of new prison facilities.

[2] In early 1972, Beto announced that he planned to resign from TDC[3] but was still director on June 29, 1972, at the beginning of the lawsuit Ruiz v.

[1] He then served as a professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville for several years.