CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary Joe Thornton named David Farmer interim executive director of the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority on Tuesday.
Farmer will replace Joe DeLong, who stepped down Tuesday.
Farmer will manage the 10-jail system, which currently houses around 4,200 inmates, pending the selection of a permanent director by the RJA’s board. The board will meet April 8.
Thornton said he felt confident Farmer would continue to work hard and manage a high level of commitment that is necessary for RJA to operate efficiently.
Farmer began his career with the agency when he joined in February 2002. He started as the director of Inmate Services at the South Central Regional Jail in Kanawha County, was appointed to administrator of the South Western Regional Jail in Logan County in December 2011, then became RJA’s deputy chief of operations and the director of its training academy in August 2014.
RJA is a part of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety that has more than 1,100 correctional officers, other full-time employees, and a $100 million annual budget.