Waynesburg man in line to become new Greene Co. jail warden
WAYNESBURG – Greene County Prison Board is recommending a longtime state Department of Corrections officer, who worked much of his career as a supervisor at the state prison near Waynesburg, be hired as the county jail’s next warden.
The board voted unanimously during its special meeting Thursday to recommend the county’s salary board approve the hiring of John Kingston at its meeting later this month.
Kingston, 59, of Waynesburg, spent more than 26 years at DOC, nearly half of it as a captain at SCI-Greene, before retiring in 2012 to work as a part-time contracted security guard at Waynesburg University, according to his résumé provided to the Observer-Reporter following the prison board meeting.
If the salary board approves Kingston’s hiring during its Sept. 22 meeting, he could begin in late September or early October. A salary has not yet been set.
Kingston said Thursday he has enjoyed working part-time at the university, but applied to the position when it opened because he wanted to use his experience and expertise to help the community.
“When you have been doing something like this as long as you have, you kind of miss it,” Kingston said. “I was busy for the first year after retiring (in 2012), but I missed working and I felt like I had something to contribute. I like my community very much and thought it would be an opportunity to give back and help develop corrections officers, develop them. I’m a trainer by nature, by profession.”
He said it’s too early to predict what policy change or facility upgrades he might make at the jail, but that he wants to help the prisoners rehabilitate themselves.
“Change is possible for everybody,” he said. “I hope for the best and hope to be a positive influence on the inmates.”
County Commissioner Archie Trader, Sheriff Brian Tennant and President Judge Farley Toothman – all prison board members – comprised a search committee that reviewed more than a dozen applications and interviewed seven candidates last Friday. Although Trader and Toothman did not attend Thursday’s special meeting, the other members were told during an executive session Kingston was the search committee’s top pick.
“It was a tough decision,” Tennant said during the meeting.
Multiple sources said the county’s human resources department has not yet conducted reference checks for Kingston.
The salary board is made up of the three county commissioners – Trader, Blair Zimmerman and Dave Coder – and county controller Dave Balint, all of whom are also on the prison board. Zimmerman said following the meeting he expects “everything to flow through” the salary board process without an issue.
If hired, Kingston would replace Harry Gillispie, who spent 20 years as the Greene County jail’s warden before retiring July 1.
The prison board passed over hiring Michael Kraus, the jail’s deputy warden and acting administrator, who was interviewed for the job. Still, the other prison board members thanked Kraus for his work and voted unanimously to recommend to the salary board he be given an additional stipend for the past two months in which he was acting warden.
Also during the special meeting, board member and District Attorney Marjorie Fox suggested the prison look into hiring a psychologist or contract with an accredited facility to pre-screen inmates entering the prison.
“I think it’s something we need,” Fox said.