Daniel L. Godinez

Daniel L. Godinez is a retired Correctional Peace Officer with over 32 years of experience working with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Currently, he is working as a consultant with SABOT Consulting, Criminal Justice Division.

Mr. Godinez commenced his career with CDCR as a Correctional Officer in January 1987 at California State Prison-Sacramento (SAC), a Custody Level IV facility. As a Correctional Officer, he was assigned to several security positions within the institution, including in the Administrative Segregation and Security Housing Units, as well as the Enhanced Outpatient Program.

Mr. Godinez was also certified with the state of California as a bilingual Spanish speaker and provided translation services for Spanish speaking inmates during disciplinary hearings, medical appointments, and investigative interviews, among other events.

From August 1996 through January 1999, Mr. Godinez was assigned as a Correctional Sergeant at both SAC and Mule Creek State Prison, a Custody Level I-IV facility. He was assigned to various posts and supervised Correctional Officers and inmates within these institutions.
In January 1999, he accepted a position at the Richard A. McGee Basic Correctional Officer Academy (BCOA) as a Correctional Sergeant/Instructor. He provided classroom presentation training for a variety of topics, including, but not limited to, Arrest and Control, Physical Training, California Penal Code 832, Firearms and Chemical Agents, Emergency Operations, Alarm Response, Use of Force, and other CDCR mandated training to newly hired Correctional Peace Officers and CDCR staff.

In May 2004, he promoted to a Correctional Lieutenant position at the California State Prison-Solano, a Custody Level I-III facility. He was assigned to multiple assignments, including, Program Lieutenant, Senior Hearing Official, and Administrative Segregation Unit Lieutenant.
In November 2004, he transferred to the BCOA as a Program Lieutenant. In this position, he supervised Correctional Sergeant/Instructors, Correctional Officer cadets, and support staff.

In March 2008, Mr. Godinez transferred to CDCR’s Office of Audits and Court Compliance (OACC) as a Correctional Counselor II (CC II) Specialist. As a CC II, he served as a Subject Mater Expert for the CDCR Developmental Disability Program (DDP) and Disability Placement Program (DPP).

He collaborated in the development and maintenance of the DDP compliance review audit tool and methodologies and worked in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, including members of CDCR’s Statewide Mental Health Department, Office of Legal Affairs, California Office of the Attorney General, and Plaintiff’s counsel (Prison Law Office) to measure institutional degree of compliance with DDP and DPP departmental policies, procedures, regulations and directives, as well as court orders and state and federal laws.

Mr. Godinez retired from CDCR OACC on December 31, 2017, after serving in the unit nearly 10 years. He returned to OACC as a Retired Annuitant CC II from May 2018 through May 2020, where he trained newly hired CC II Specialist staff, aided in the development of the DDP Standardized Operational Procedures, and participated in compliance reviews. In August 2020, he joined SABOT Consulting as a consultant in the Criminal Justice Division.