Governor Roy Cooper appointed Todd Ishee Secretary of the newly established North Carolina Department of Adult Correction in 2022, after he served more than three years as Commissioner of Prisons in the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
He served 29 years in Ohio corrections, beginning as a correctional officer before rising through the ranks to serve as warden of the Ohio State Penitentiary, regional director, and deputy director for the Ohio Office of Reentry and Enterprise Development.
Ishee believes in communication from the ground up and visits several sites every week. He spends time speaking with staff and offenders, sharing his mission and vision for the future of North Carolina corrections and gathering staff input and ideas.
Ishee serves as a member of the Correctional Leaders Association, where he is the chairperson of the Staff Wellness Committee. He is a member of the American Correctional Association, where he serves on the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections. He has been certified as an auditor for both the Prison Rape Elimination Act and the American Correctional Association.
He holds a bachelor's degree in organizational management from Malone University and is credentialed as a certified public manager.