The Clarion County commissioners, during their meeting on Tuesday, revealed they had settled on hiring Chicora resident Darren Knox as the jail’s new warden.
He began his new job on Monday, according to Commissioner Wayne Brosius, who also serves as chairman of the Jail Inspection Board.
Knox replaces Jeff Hornberger, who retired Sept. 7 after 28 years of service, including 20 as warden.
“The prison board liked Darren,” Brosius said. “He is a humanistic approach to corrections. He can be tough when he needs to be.
“We’re looking forward to what he has to offer, and continue our success and ability to recruit more people and employees to help staff the jail.”
Knox, who was hired at a starting rate of $60,000, has an extensive background in security and inmate services, including mental health services.
He served as a deputy warden at Armstrong County Jail, from 2020 to 2022; assistant director for Juvenile Youth Mid-Atlantic Youth Services, from 2019 to 2020; community reintegration coordinator at Butler County Prison, from 2016 to 2018; correction officer at Butler County Prison, from 2010 to 2016; and crisis team leader at Center for Community Resources, from 2007 to 2010.
Knox attended Thiel College, from 2002 to 2006, and earned degrees in both criminal justice and sociology.
Other business
— Holly Komonczi, of the Lumber Heritage Region, informed the commissioners about mini-grants available through the organization, and that the $10,000 grants could be used for a number of lumber-related projects.
“Lumber built this nation and we need to think forward,” she said.
The aim of the LHR, which serves a 15-county region in northwestern Pennsylvania, is to accentuate the importance of the lumber industry for the past, present and future.
“It is our mission to serve the region with technical, educational and financial assistance through coordination of networking and communication initiatives,” Komonczi said. “We need to teach young people about our lumber heritage.”
— Commissioner Ted Tharan said the county’s quest to decertify its former tourist promotion agency has been successful. “We needed 50 percent of the county’s municipalities to decertify Pennsylvania Great Outdoors (PAGO). We now have 68 — 7 percent of the municipalities voting to decertify.”
The county has in excess of $200,000 of hotel tax money invested in PAGO. Tharan indicated the county will pursue the return of those funds.
— The county’s preliminary budget for 2024 will be presented at the next meeting of the commissioners on Tuesday, Nov. 14, according to Tharan.