Carolyn Scruggs

Carolyn Scruggs is an American executive who became the first black woman to lead the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services

Early life Scruggs was brought up in Oliver, Baltimore. Her father, Calvin Scruggs, ran a funeral home.

Career In 1995 Scruggs became a correctional officer at Maryland's Central Booking. Wes Moore Swearing in Cabinet Member Carolyn Scruggs in March 2023. Governor-elect Wes Moore appointed Scruggs to lead the Department of Public Safety and Corrections in 2023. She was the first black woman to that department where she had worked for 27 years.

In May 2025, Parole Agent Davis Martinez was murdered while making a home visit. Three managers resigned and Scruggs said that home visits would not continue until staff had received additional equipment and training.

Scruggs estimated that the Maryland Correctional Institution - Jessup would need $200 million in renovations to bring it up to standard and that its closure would save the state $21 million a year in operational costs. On September 29, 2025, Governor Wes Moore announced that the prison was to close.