Corrections spokeswoman Bach named ‘Public Information Officer of the Year’

At an annual awards dinner at the Dante Club of Sacramento three weeks ago, the California State Information Officers Council honored its own, bestowing its highest honor on Margot Shinnamon Bach, a supervising public information officer with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Bach received the Public Information Officer of the Year award for her work assisting the media in reporting on the plight of pregnant inmates, and programs serving women and mothers incarcerated in state prisons. One program Bach helped promote allows children to visit their incarcerated mothers.

Bach, who was unavailable for comment, told a group of 60 of her peers at the dinner that serving the prison population is difficult but rewarding, said Roni Java, president of the State Information Officers Council. Java said Bach received the award unanimously from a panel of public and private-sector judges in the public-relations industry. She added that Bach probably has the toughest job among the state’s corps of information officers. “She’s worked to put a positive face on the things corrections do.