Warden Bio's

Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex

Jim Worthington, a 27-year employee of the Department of Correction, was appointed to serve as warden of the Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex Site 1 in Petros on March 1, 2006. He is also charged with managing the decommission team of the historic prison site once the expansion project is complete.

Worthington started his career in March 1981 as a correctional officer at the Morgan County Regional Correctional Facility. He worked his way up through the ranks from corporal to unit manager at Brushy Mountain, including a brief stint as associate warden and warden at Knoxville Community Service Center before the site closed. He was named deputy warden in 2001 and served as acting warden from August 2005-March 2006.

Worthington is a 1964 graduate of Lake City High School and attended Roane State Community College. He is a graduate of several criminal justice classes from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Academy in Donelson, and is also a Vietnam veteran. He is married with one son.

Charles Bass Correctional Complex

Picture of Warden Holland Flora Holland was named Warden of the Charles Bass Correctional Complex on February 16, 2007. She most recently served as Assistant to the Assistant Commissioner of Operations. Warden Holland's prior positions include Warden of the DeBerry Special Needs Facility and Warden of the former Middle Tennessee Correctional Complex. She has previously held positions including deputy warden, job coordinator and vocational teacher.

Prior to relocating to Tennessee from Ohio, Warden Holland served as a vocational instructor at the Lima Correctional Facility, an inmate job coordinator at the Allen County Facility, and Deputy Warden of Training, Industry and Education at the Marysville Prison for Women in Ohio. She was later promoted to Warden at the Allen Correctional Facility.

Warden Holland holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education/Vocational Certification from Central State University in Ohio. She is married with eight children.

Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility

picture of Roland Colson 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.

Hardeman County Correctional Facility

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.

Mark H. Luttrell Correctional Center

Lolie Jones, Jr., a 31-year veteran of the Tennessee Department of Correction, was appointed Warden of the Mark H. Luttrell Correctional Center on April 1, 2008.

Warden Jones began his career with the state in 1976 as a correctional officer at the old Tennessee State Prison. He worked his way through the security ranks as corporal, lieutenant and captain. In 1989, Jones transferred to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, and in 1997 was transferred to the Middle Tennessee Reception Center. In 2000, he was assigned as the department's security specialist in central office where he served as the department's primary emergency services coordinator to TEMA.

Warden Jones has served as acting deputy and warden at various facilities throughout the department during his tenure in central office.

He is a 1974 graduate of McGavock High School, and attended both Austin Peay and Nashville State Technical College. He has also completed course work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Warden Jones is married with 3 sons.

Morgan County Correctional Complex

On March 1, 2006, Warden David Mills returned to the Morgan County Correctional Complex to oversee the daily operation and to manage the Morgan County expansion project. The expansion project will add a new minimum security housing unit, three medium security housing units and a maximum security housing unit consisting of 360 beds.

Mills previously served as Warden of the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Lauderdale County. His career with the Department of Correction began in 1975 as a correctional officer at the Fort Pillow Prison and Farm. He has served in a number of leadership roles over the past 30 years, including Warden of Morgan County Regional Correctional Facility from 1989-1993, regional administrator from 1993-1995, Turney Center Industrial Prison from 1995-1997 and Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex from 1997-2003.

Mills is a 1974 graduate of Ripley High School. He has attended criminal justice classes at Dyersburg Community College, Roane State Community College, East Tennessee State University and UT Martin.

Northeast Correctional Complex

Warden Howard Carlton has worked for the Tennessee Department of Correction for 28 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 also serves on a host of community boards, include the Johnson County School Board, Johnson County Health Center, United Way and Mountain City Rotary Club.

Northwest Correctional Complex

On March 1, 2006, Tony Parker was appointed to serve as warden at West Tennessee State Penitentiary, the state's largest prison with a population of nearly 2,500 male inmates.

Tony Parker is also the youngest warden employed by the Tennessee Department of Correction. Even so, he has more than two decades of experience with the department.

Warden Parker is proof that diligence and hard work pay off. He started as a correctional officer in 1983 and worked his way up the ranks from corporal to captain from 1986-1995, and has also served as an associate warden, deputy warden, and eventually warden of Northwest Correctional Complex in June 2003.

Parker graduated from UT-Martin with honors in 1995. He has a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. Parker is married with a daughter.

Riverbend Maximum Security Institution

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 two 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.

South Central Correctional Facility

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.

Southeastern Tennessee State Regional Correctional Facility

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. 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 four grandchildren.

Tennessee Correction Academy

Sam DiNicola joined the Tennessee Department of Correction is 1978 and now serves as Superintendent of the Tennessee Correction Academy. During his many years of service, he has worked under numerous job classifications, including correctional officer, psychiatric social worker, acting associate warden, program director, administrative assistant and Director of Training at the Tennessee Correctional Academy in Tullahoma, where he oversaw the training and professional development of over 6,000 criminal justice professionals each year.

Sam is a past president of the Tennessee Correctional Association and a consultant for the American Correctional Association, through which he has delivered training workshops for various state correctional agencies all over the country.

Sam holds degrees from the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University.

Tennessee Prison for Women

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 24 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.

Turney Center Industrial Prison

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.

Whiteville Correctional Facility

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.