George Beto

Who is George Beto?

Dr. George John Beto was a former director of the Texas Department of Corrections, a criminal justice expert in penology, a professor, and a Lutheran minister. He was previously President of Concordia Lutheran College in Austin and Concordia Seminary in Illinois.

Beto was born in Hysham, Montana on January 19, 1916. He was raised in Indiana.

Beto advocated for the establishment of a school district serving prisoners. In 1969 the Texas Legislature authorized the establishment of the Windham School District. During his career Beto received awards for his management of the TDC.

Towards the end of Beto's career as the head of TDC, an attorney named Frances Freeman Jalet assisted Fred Cruz and other prisoners who were planning legal challenges to the TDC system. On two occasions Beto banned her from the TDC units, but court orders forced the TDC to let her back in. Beto then arranged to have three trustees to sue Jalet in federal court; the lawsuit said that Jalet incited revolutionary violence and imperiled the lives of the prisoners. Beto lost the lawsuit and was ordered to pay $10,000 in attorney's fees from his own pocket.