Rep. David Guice, a Republican from Transylvania County, will head the Community Corrections division of the new state Department of Public Safety next year. Gov. Bev Perdue announced the appointment today.

Guice spearheaded perhaps the most far-reaching, bipartisan legislation that came out of the General Assembly this year: the Justice Reinvestment Act. The new law is based on the proposition that closer supervision of offenders released from prison will prevent them from committing crimes again, and save the state money on incarceration expenses.

Guice spent 30 years as a state probation officer, chief parole officer and parole services manager. He was elected to the General Assembly in 2009, and served as co-chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Justice and Public Safety and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety.

Guice will succeed Tim Moose, who will become executive officer for the Division of Adult Correcdtions.

“I am humbled and appreciate the opportunity to serve in this key role,” Guice said in a statement the governor’s office released. “Many improvements have been made in community corrections under Gov. Perdue’s leadership, and I look forward to building on those advances and on the achievements under Tim Moose.”

The new department will comprise the departments of Crime Control and Public Safety, Correction and Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. With more than 25,000 employees, it will be the largest state agency in North Carolina. It will have three divisions covering law enforcement, adult offenders and juvenile offenders.