Seal of the Governor
For Immediate Release: March 20, 2020
Contacts: Office of the Governor: Alenaa Yarmosky, Alena.Yarmosky@governor.virginia.gov

Governor Northam Announces Administration Appointments

RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam announced additional appointments to his Administration today.

Secretariat of Public Safety and Homeland Security

Virginia Parole Board

Tonya Chapman, Chair of the Virginia Parole Board
Tonya Chapman has been appointed Chair of the Virginia Parole Board. Her professional career in law enforcement and public safety spans nearly 30 years. She previously served as a Chief of Police, becoming the first African American female police chief of a municipal police department in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She served as the Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security under Governor Terry McAuliffe, where her portfolio included the Virginia Parole Board, Department of Corrections, Virginia State Police, and the Commonwealth‘s Attorneys’ Services’ Council. 

She earned her Master of Business Administration, Master of Public Administration and her Bachelor of Science degrees from Virginia Tech. She is currently working on her doctoral dissertation in Public Administration and Public Affairs with a concentration in Homeland Security. 

Linda L. Bryant, Vice Chair of the Virginia Parole Board
Linda Bryant has been appointed Vice Chair to the Virginia Parole Board, where she has served since June 2018. She is an attorney from Chesapeake and is parachutist qualified. She has served as a Captain on active duty in the United States Army, a Trial Defense Attorney and Major in the United States Army Reserves, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Norfolk, Deputy Attorney General for the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Division of the Office of the Attorney General, and Interim Assistant Superintendent and Compliance Attorney for the Hampton Roads Regional Jail.

She graduated from The University of Virginia, where she double majored in History and Spanish, and obtained her J.D. from the College of William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, where she also served as an adjunct professor. 

Secretariat of the Commonwealth
Board Appointments

Charitable Gaming Board

  • James Lewis* of Alexandria, Communications Director, U.S. House of Representatives
  • Ryant L. Washington of Fluvanna County, Retired, Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, Commonwealth of Virginia

*denotes reappointment

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