Background
Beto, George John was born on January 19, 1916 in Hysham, Montana, United States. Son of Louis H. and Margaret (Witsma) Beto.
Beto, George John was born on January 19, 1916 in Hysham, Montana, United States. Son of Louis H. and Margaret (Witsma) Beto.
Student, Concordia College, Milwaukee, 1930-1935; student, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, 1935-1937, 38-39; Bachelor of Arts, Valparaiso U., 1938; Master of Arts, University Texas, 1944; Doctor of Philosophy, University Texas, 1955; Doctor of Divinity, Concordia Seminary, 1989.
He was previously President of Concordia Lutheran College in Austin and Concordia Seminary in Illinois. He was raised in Bloomington, 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.
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.
In early 1972 Beto announced that he planned to resign from TDC. He was then Professor of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville for several years. Upon retirement from that position he moved to Austin, where he died about a year later of a heart attack. Beto is buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.
Two Texas Department of Criminal Justice prisons, the Beto Unit and the Beto II Unit (now the Louis C Powledge Unit) in Anderson County were named after Beto, as is the Criminal Justice Center at Sam Houston State University.
As the head of the Texas Department of Corrections, Beto was the lead defendant in the 1972 United States. Supreme Court case Cruz v.
Secretary Texas Board Corrections, 1953-1959. Member Illinois Parole and Pardon Board, 1961-1962, Texas Youth Council, 1975-1988. Chief of chaplains Texas Youth Commission.
American delegate United Nations Conference on Prevention Crime and Treatment Offender, Kyoto, Japan, 1970, Geneva, 1975, Milan, 1985. Member of commission on correctional facilities and services American Bar Association. Member Texas Constitutional REvision Commission, 1973-1974.
Member American Correctional Association (past president, E.R. Cass award 1972), Phi Delta Kappa, Alpha Delta Kappa.
Married Marilynn Knippa, March 5, 1943. Children– Dan, Lynn, Mark, Beth.