Allegheny County Council is weighing in on who should fill the shoes of outgoing jail Warden Trevor Wingard, who is leaving for a job in North Carolina.
Councilmember Bethany Hallam, who is on the Jail Oversight Board, has a specific type of individual in mind to become the next warden, one who would follow and expand the policies set up by outgoing warden Wingard who impressed her during his hiring process.
“I will say that he blew all other candidates out of the water and I’m just very worried that we won’t be able to find somebody of that caliber to take this role on going forward, so if you know anybody (laughs) who maybe really is a cool, progressive, warden, which I know is like a unicorn,” said Hallam.
At Council's Tuesday meeting, Hallam said she was concerned about a caretaker interim warden, who could, due to the hiring process, have the post for a year or more.
County Executive Sara Innamorato says he'll be sorely missed, but adds the progress made under his leadership has helped put the jail on a stronger path for the future, “rebuilding trust in the community and there’s still an incredible amount of work to do and now we enter the phase where we do a national search again and find someone who is a great fit for Allegheny County.”
Innamorato says she hopes to have a new warden in place by the end of the year.
