New Warden Begins Duties

MCELHATTAN — After a day of getting acclimated in the community, Clinton County’s new prison warden checked in today for his first full day on the job.

John Rowley started the day with a media-requested symbolic exchanging of the correctional facility keys with county commissioner/previous acting warden Jeff Snyder.

Rowley said the foundation for a successful prison already exists, noting recent changes at the Wayne Township lockup. He said he will be working toward creating “a vision where we want to take” the facility to the next level.

He indicated he would emphasize a team approach involving the prison staff and outside agencies, stating a collaborative goal will be to act in the best interest of prison inmates to prevent them from returning as repeat offenders.

A native of western Pennsylvania, Rowley most recently had been with the Maryland Department of Public Safety, working on a statewide basis from department headquarters in Baltimore.

Rowley said he and his wife Cindy are looking for a home in Clinton County and expect to relocate by mid-September. Rowley is a graduate of Freeport High School and Geneva College. He has 40 years experience in correctional work and was the unanimous choice of the county commissioners and the county prison board to replace previous warden Jackie Motter who was terminated in June; deputy warden Wayne Bechdel was also let go then.

At the time of the Motter dismissal Snyder said there had been a breakdown in communication between the warden and chief deputy and the prison staff to the point, he said, that it threatened the safety of both staff members and the inmate population.