The Division of Adult Correction has named Patricia Blackburn as the new warden of the Lincoln Correctional Center in Lincolnton.
She had been the associate warden at Gaston Correctional since 2021.
“Warden Blackburn is an exceptional leader with more than two decades of experience,” said Brandeshawn Harris, Interim Commissioner of Prisons. “She has a proven track record as an outstanding correctional professional whose care and compassion is commendable.”
A veteran state government employee, Blackburn began her career as a correctional officer at Foothills Correctional Institution in 2000.
She rose through the ranks to sergeant in 2004, then to assistant unit manager at Alexander Correctional in 2007. She returned to Foothills Correctional in 2010 to be unit manager and was promoted to disciplinary hearing officer in 2014.
Blackburn has earned a criminal justice instructor certification from the North Carolina Criminal Justice Training and Standards Commission.
In her new position, Blackburn is responsible for all operations at Lincoln Correctional Center, which houses minimum-custody male offenders and is accredited by the American Correctional Association.