Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday appointed the first woman to head the Department of Corrections next year in an attempt to combat Florida's troubled prison system.

Julie Jones once led the agency that oversees the state highway patrol as chief of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The 57-year-old will become the first woman in Florida's state history to ever become a corrections chief.

The Florida prison system, home to more than 100,000 inmates, has been under scrutiny for inmate deaths, abuse and accusations of cover-ups and retaliation against whistleblowers.

Before overseeing the state highway patrol, Jones worked at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for more than 20 years working her way up to director of law enforcement. The public-safety veteran retired earlier this year.

She is determined to do a great job at her new post despite a lack of experience in the prison industry.

"My fresh perspective will enable me to look for different ways to do things. I don't have to be an expert in order to implement change management. I'm good at the people part, and I'm good at the budget part," Jones said.

Julie said she will first focus on analyzing prison workers' job tasks and staffing levels.

"The cultural change, though, you can tell people that you want them to act differently but if you don't set standards and hold them accountable, it's hard,'' she said.

"That's why the HR piece and analyzing what their job is, being very specific about what is expected of them so there's no gray area, that's important.''

Known for her ability to reach consensus among entities that often have competing agendas, Julie is Rick Scott's fourth appointed corrections chief in four years.

Jones will make $160,000 a year and oversee a system with a $2.3 billion budget and over 20,000 employees.