This week, Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued a sweeping decision to appoint an independent manager to take control of much of the operations of Rikers Island following years of violence and mismanagement.

In the final pages of that decision, the judge details what she is looking for.

She says the manager should have management and correctional expertise, collaborative skills and excellent communication skills. The judge also has a list of questions they should be prepared to answer.

The parties in the case, including the Legal Aid Society, will submit recommendations later this summer.

"We take to mean someone who has not been brought up in the dysfunction and learned helplessness that characterizes the New York City jails," said Mary Lynne Werlwas of the Legal Aid Society, one of the lawyers representing detainees in the case.

Stakeholders are already floating some names.

"I think you can come up with more than a handful of people who would be qualified,” Stanley Richards of the Fortune Society said. “John Wetzel, who was the public safety commissioner in Pennsylvania. Another person I deeply admire, who I don't know if he would be interested in it, is Jeremy Travis."

Wetzel ran prisons in Pennsylvania and has been floated by multiple sources. He could not be reached for comment.

Travis is the former president of John Jay College for Criminal Justice. When reached by NY1, he said never say never, but it’s highly unlikely.

Mark Cranston, a former correction official on Rikers, has also seen his name floated. He told NY1 he's always interested in Rikers Island.

"I think what we're going to need from a receiver is someone with fresh ideas and new perspectives, someone who has not just known Rikers who has experience in other correctional systems," said Zachary Katznelson of the Independent Rikers Commission, which is attempting to steer the closure of Rikers Island.

Stakeholders and experts acknowledge the challenges are tremendous for this new manager.

Data from the city comptroller's office show stabbings and slashings have gone down in recent years, but are still high.

And the use of force among staff against detainees remains constant.

Just further complicating the road ahead.

"Well, the biggest challenges are going to be ensuring that line officers and supervisory staff are bought into the idea of eliminating the dysfunction or at least mitigating the dysfunction at Rikers," Cardozo School of Law professor Alex Reinert said.

The parties in the case will submit just four recommendations to the judge at the end of August. From there, she will select who will get the post.