Las Vegas, NV (AP) - A former Nevada state prisons chief who left the position in 2019 is returning to the post under newly inaugurated Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.
James Dzurenda headed the state Department of Corrections for three years under then-Gov. Brian Sandoval, also a Republican. He resigned in July 2019 under Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak.
Ben Kieckhefer, chief of staff to Lombardo, confirmed Friday that Dzurenda will return to head the department. Kieckhefer did not provide Dzurenda’s start date.
Nevada state prisons have been beset in recent months by inmate violence, staffing shortages, the escape in September of a man convicted of a 2007 bombing in a parking structure at a Las Vegas Strip casino and the resignation in October of the prisons chief who had the job for almost three years.
Dzurenda will take over for William Gittere, who has been acting director since the departure of Charles Daniels.