Secretary of Adult Correction Todd Ishee has named Stephen Waddell as the new warden of Maury Correctional Institution in Maury.
Waddell had been the warden at the nearby Greene Correctional Institution since 2020.
“Warden Waddell is a remarkable veteran leader with deep and wide-ranging experience in running large prisons,” said Ishee. “He believes in setting high standards and in preparing offenders to be productive members of society on their release from prison. He is a truly a corrections professional.”
In his new position, Waddell is responsible for all operations at Maury Correctional. One of the largest prisons in the state, it houses male offenders in close and medium custody.
Maury Correctional provides specialized housing units for a variety of offender populations including residential mental health, outpatient mental health, military veterans, chronic medical, restrictive housing, and a therapeutic diversion unit. It offers a variety of educational opportunities for offenders.
A 29-year veteran of the department, Waddell began his correctional career in March of 1994 as a correctional officer at Greene Correctional.
He spent a year at Eastern Correctional before transferring to Central Prison, where he was promoted to sergeant in 2001; to lieutenant in 2004; to captain in 2007; to associate warden for operations in 2013; and then to deputy warden in 2014.
He was named warden at Greene Correctional in October of 2020.
Waddell is a graduate of East Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
He also is a graduate of the Department of Public Safety Correctional Leadership Development Program. He holds an advanced certificate from the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission.
Waddell served as a Department of Public Safety general instructor and an instructor in a number of specialty skills, including firearms, baton, cell extraction, pepper spray and security risk groups. He also served as a member of the Prisons Emergency Response Team for a decade.
He was named Correctional Investigator of the Year by the North Carolina Gang Investigators Association in 2010 and 201l and was a member of the director’s Mental Health Task Force in 2015.