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Leadership change made at Warren County Jail

Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton Rusty Barr was sworn in as the Warren County Jail’s next warden during Tuesday’s Prison Board meeting.

New leadership has been selected at the Warren County Jail.

Rusty Barr was sworn in as warden during a Prison Board meeting on Tuesday in the wake of Jon Collins’ retirement. Barr had been serving as deputy warden under Collins.

“I just think Deputy Barr has been (an) exemplary employee of the prison,” Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said, “would be a fantastic warden.”

He said he would “highly recommend (Barr) in that capacity,” calling him a “straight shooter” who “cares for the people he’s tending to.”

“We look forward to you doing great things,” Commissioner Tricia Durbin said.

Barr thanked the prison board for its confidence in him.

“We have a fantastic team over there,” he said, and “a lot of good workers.”

The warden has the authority to select his deputy and Barr said he would be selecting Lt. Ryan Tipton to that role.

Tipton “does a lot of big things behind the scenes.” The Prison Board acted to support that decision.

OPIOID SETTLEMENT

DISCUSSED

Warren County is expected to receive about $970,000 as part of nation-wide opioid provider settlement agreements and officials continue to discuss how those funds can be best utilized.

Eggleston said he consulted Human Service staff and other providers invested in that space regarding how they would like to see the funding spent.

“Everybody is very adamant about investing in the prison,” he said, noting that a halfway house is a “really hard thing to put together in the county.”

District Attorney Rob Greene said that could look like a case manager “that can assist them (inmates) with their journey back to the real world.”

Eggleston said the human services providers would “present their perspectives” at the next prison board meeting in October.

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