Department of Correction
Gayle E. Ray, Commissioner

Dwight A. Barbee, a 31-year veteran of the Tennessee Department of Correction, was appointed Warden of the Charles B. Bass Correctional Complex on May 28, 2009.

Warden Barbee began his career with the state in 1978 as a correctional officer at Mark Luttrell Correctional Center. He worked his way through the security ranks as corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, unit manager, administrative captain and deputy warden. He has also served as acting deputy warden and warden at various facilities. Throughout his career, he has worked at Mark Luttrell Correctional Center, Wayne County Boot Camp and Turney Center Industrial Prison.  

Warden Barbee is married with three children..

Joe Easterling was named Warden of CCA's Hardeman Correctional Facility in August 2007.

He previously served as Warden at CCA's San Diego Correctional Facility from April 2005 until August 2007.  He was Warden at CCA's Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey from July 2003 to April 2005.  Easterling joined CCA in 1989 as a correctional officer at Houston Processing Center.  He has also served as chief of security at Sanders Estes Unit, assistant warden at Silverdale facilities, assistant warden at David Correctional Facility, chief of security at West Tennessee Detention Facility and most recently, assistant warden at Elizabeth Detention Center.  

Prior to joining CCA, Easterling spent 11 years with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

On April 1, 2007, Roland Colson was named Warden of the Lois DeBerry Special Needs Facility.  He most recently served as Assistant Commissioner of Operations to which he was appointed in June of 2004.

From 2000-2004, Colson served the Department of Safety as the Chief of Technology Officer as well as Assistant to the Commissioner.  In those roles, he was instrumental in the development, submission and administration of the departmental budget and technological strategies.  He worked extensively in the writing and implementation of departmental policies and served as a legislative liaison for the department.

Prior to his four years with the Department of Safety, Colson worked for TDOC as the Director of Information Systems.  He served in that role from February 1995 to March 2000 and was responsible for implementing many new technological initiatives.

Colson has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Florida State University.  In 1991, he completed his Masters in Business and Administration at Middle Tennessee State University.  He has more than 30 years of experience as an information technology manager, financial analyst, financial manager and information systems consultant.

Warden Howard Carlton has worked for the Tennessee Department of Correction for 30 years.  He began his career as a juvenile probation officer and, in 1981, transferred to the Division of Adult Probation in Columbia.

Carlton is credited with helping establish the Tennessee Correction Academy in Tullahoma.  He went on to become the warden at Southeast Tennessee State Correctional Facility, and later Northeast Correctional Complex, where he has served since 1992.

Carlton has a bachelor's degree in Science from David Lipscomb University.  He serves on a host of community boards, including the Johnson County School Board, Johnson County Health Center, United Way and Mountain City Rotary Club. He is also auditor for the American Correctional Association.

Tony Parker was appointed Warden of Northwest Correctional Complex in June 2003 and served as warden of NWCX until March 2006. Parker assumed the position of Warden at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in March 2006 and held this position until June 2008, at which time he returned as Warden of Northwest Correctional Complex. These two correctional facilities are among the largest in the Tennessee Department of Correction system. West Tennessee State has an operating capacity of more than 2,500 male inmates and Northwest Correctional Complex has over 2,400 male inmates.

Warden Parker has more than two decades of experience with the department. He is the youngest warden employed by the Tennessee Department of Correction. He began his career with the State of Tennessee in 1983 as a correctional officer at the Lake County Regional. He worked his way through the security ranks from corporal to captain from 1986-1995. In 1997, he was promoted to Associate Warden of Operations at the West Tennessee High Security Facility and served as Associate Warden at Northwest Correctional Complex. In 2001, he was promoted to Deputy Warden at Northwest Correctional Complex and in 2003 was appointed warden of that facility.

In 1995, Parker graduated with a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Tennessee at Martin.  He enjoys hunting, fishing and spending time with his daughter, Madison.

Ricky Bell has worked for the Tennessee Department of Correction longer than any other warden in the state.  He began his career in 1970 as a correctional officer at Turney Center Industrial Prison and Farm.  Just five years later, he was promoted to deputy warden of the facility.

Bell first became a warden in 1992.  He ran Turney Center Industrial Prison and Farm for three years before being transferred to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.  Warden Bell currently manages some of the most violent criminals in the state, including all but four death row offenders.

He is a graduate of Perry County High School and attended Austin Peay State University.

Cherry Lindamood was promoted to warden of Correction Corporation of America's South Central Correctional Facility in Clifton, Tennessee in June 2005.  She served as associate warden at CCA's Whiteville Correctional Facility in Whiteville, Tennessee from May 2004 until June 2005.

Cherry Lindamood served as the warden for the state's largest women's prison (Tennessee Prison for Women) from summer of 2001 until 2004.  Her career with the state Department of Correction spanned more than eighteen years.

Warden Lindamood graduated from Murray State University in 1979 with a Bachelor's degree in Science.  She initially went to work for the Department of Human Services, but by 1989, she had made her move to corrections as a counselor at the Lake County Correctional Facility.

During her time in West Tennessee, Lindamood worked her way up to unit manager, associate warden and eventually deputy warden for Northwest Correctional Complex.  Lindamood is married with two children.

Jim Morrow, a veteran of Tennessee state government was appointed to serve as Warden of the Southeastern Tennessee State Regional Correctional Facility on March 16, 2007.

Jim Morrow began his career with state government as a protective services counselor with the Department of Human Services in 1972.  In 1989, he came to work for the Department of Correction as a counselor at the Morgan County Correctional Complex.  Morrow was promoted numerous times to positions including correctional counseling manager, unit manager, associate warden of administration and associate warden of operations.

Morrow also has an extensive and impressive military career.  He was drafted out of high school but then volunteered in the true Tennessee tradition to serve one tour of duty in Vietnam.  Following an honorable discharge, Morrow later joined a medical unit with the Tennessee Army National Guard.  His unit was deployed in 2004 to Operation Iraqi Freedom where he served as a combat medic.  He has received several military awards through the years. He retired from the Tennessee Army National Guard February 2007 with 33 years of distinguished military service. Other honors have come from the Governor's Drug Eradication Task Force, Sex Offender Treatment Board and National Incident Management Systems.

Morrow attended high school in Oneida, Tennessee.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and Psychology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.  Jim Morrow is married with three children and five grandchildren.

Jewel Steele began her career with the Tennessee Department of Correction in December 1981 as a Psychiatric Social Worker I at the Old DeBerry Correctional Institute.

Ms. Steele was selected to be on the expansion committee to open the new 
Lois DeBerry Special Needs Facility.  
She was instrumental in helping develop institutional policies, operational procedures and the program guidelines.

During her almost 28 years in Correction, Warden Steele held positions as a Psychiatric Social Worker I and II, Mental Health/Mental Retardation Institutional Program Director and a Director of Mental Health.

Ms. Steele was appointed warden at the Tennessee Prison for Women on June 1, 2005.

Warden Steele is a graduate of Tennessee State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology, and the University of Tennessee School of Social Work, where she received a Master's of Science in social work.

James Fortner, a 32 year veteran of the Tennessee Department of Correction, was appointed Warden of the Turney Center Industrial Prison June 1, 2007.

James Fortner began his career with the state in 1975 as a correctional officer at the old Tennessee State Prison.  He worked his way through the security ranks as corporal, sergeant, lieutenant and captain.  In 1992, Fortner transferred to DeBerry Special Needs Facility.  In 2003, he was named security specialist at central office before serving as Deputy Warden at Turney Center.

Fortner is a 1971 graduate of Dickson County High School.  He is married with one son and a granddaughter.

Henry Steward was appointed Warden of the West Tennessee State Penitentiary on October 1, 2008.

Steward began his career with the State of Tennessee in 1986 as a correctional officer at Fort Pillow Prison and Farm. Warden Steward advanced through the ranks from corporal to captain and served as a unit manager, associate warden of operations and deputy warden.

Warden Henry Steward holds an associate's degree in Criminal Justice from Dyersburg State Community College. Steward is married and has four children.

Stephen Dotson was appointed warden at CCA's Whiteville Correctional Facility in April 2003.  Previously, Dotson served as warden at CCA's Lawrenceville Correctional Center (Virginia) from  2000 to 2003, and Pamlico Correctional Facility in North Carolina from 1999-2000.

Dotson joined CCA in 1996 as training manager at South Central Correctional Center and served as assistant warden at Hardeman County Correctional Facility, Whiteville Correctional Facility and West Tennessee Detention Facility.  Prior to joining CCA, Dotson worked fifteen years for the Tennessee Department of Correction.  He began his career at Turney Center Industrial Prison as a correctional officer in 1982 and later was promoted to corporal and training specialist.  In 1989 Dotson was promoted to operations manager at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution and in 1992 as assistant warden at Lake County Regional Correctional Facility.

Dotson holds a bachelor's degree from Middle Tennessee State University and an associate's degree in correctional management for Austin Peay State University.  Dotson is married with two children.