By Dave Sutor
The Tribune-Democrat
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A new acting warden will oversee the Bedford County Correctional Facility until a person can be found to fill the position on a permanent basis, preferably before the end of March.
On Tuesday, the Bedford County commissioners appointed Troy Nelson to the job. Nelson has been with the county for 20 years, most recently serving as chief deputy in the sheriff’s department.
The commissioners further filled out the ranks by naming Brock Evans acting deputy warden and making Ronald Kaszubski acting captain.
“We have a good crew, I think, in place now,” Commissioner Kirt Morris said.
The commissioners needed to fill the top post after Acting Warden Adam Henderson resigned last week.
He had held the temporary position since Warden David Kessling stepped down in December following a dispute between himself, Morris and Commissioner Paul Crooks concerning a prisoner escape in September.
Also recently, Capt. Trista Price announced plans to leave her position for family reasons, which was expected.
Morris, however, was surprised by Henderson’s decision.
“When the warden resigned, a lot of people speculated, but his resignation letter never said why he resigned,” Morris said.
Bedford’s commissioners made their decisions after the county’s prison board recommended appointing Nelson, Evans and Kaszubski.
“The prison board knows these people,” Morris said.
“There was very little discussion once we found out these people were interested.”
Prison board officials voted on their recommendations during an emergency session on Monday.
“We were really looking to do something as quickly as possible because we had nobody at the head of the prison itself,” Sheriff Charwin Reichelderfer said.
All of the positions are “acting” so the eventual new full-time warden can make changes to the staff if the individual wants to do so.
Bedford County plans to accept applications for the warden position until the end of January. The interview process will then begin.