AS HIS LONGTIME SERVICE on the Floyd County Commission has more than proven, John Mayes is a level-headed and competent public servant. Having just been named by Gov. Nathan Deal as chairman of the Georgia Board of Corrections it will be interesting to see if he attempts to correct what most needs repair in his own back yard: Hays State Prison in Chattooga County.

Much like a school board, the corrections panel does not actually operate the prisons but rather sets the rules governing conduct and welfare for 60,000 inmates and 14,000 employees.

Hays has become a shocking example about how rules and welfare regarding treatment, discipline, housing and so forth have either not been followed or miserably implemented. The constant tales of murder, mayhem, scandal and stupidity involving Hays have almost become accepted as “just business as normal.”

Mayes can hardly straighten this out by himself but would be in what could be a very uncomfortable position if he is board chairman when the U.S. Justice Department swoops in with the civil-rights violation investigation that increasingly looks called for. Or when the military calls him to say it is closing Guantanamo and wants to transfer all the terrorism suspects to Hays because they really, really need more severe treatment.