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Department of Corrections Secretary Announces Facility Leadership Changes

07/26/2018

Melissa Hainsworth, who served as superintendent of SCI Somerset, has been named superintendent of SCI Laurel Highlands; SCI Smithfield Superintendent Eric Tice has been named superintendent of SCI Somerset, and; Jamey Luther, the current superintendent at SCI Laurel Highlands, has been named superintendent of SCI Smithfield.
The changes are effective Monday, July 30, 2018.
Wetzel said the changes are the result of the agency’s need to respond to the long-term effects of the fatal beating of Somerset Corrections Sergeant Mark Baserman by an inmate in February.
“What we’ve learned from previous major incidents is that a facility doesn’t really begin to fully heal until there is a change in leadership,” Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said. “We have complete faith in these leaders and are making these moves in order to allow SCI Somerset to continue the healing process.”
Wetzel commended Hainsworth as the primary force behind the stabilization of SCI Somerset following the tragedy and for putting it in a positive position to move forward. He said that she is a strong superintendent whom he expects will serve SCI Laurel Highlands well.
Wetzel said Tice’s strong security background and leadership at SCIs Huntingdon and Smithfield will help further the healing process at Somerset. Jamey Luther, a supervising superintendent for the central region, will continue serving in that capacity at SCI Smithfield and provide guidance to Hainsworth and Tice.
Melissa Hainsworth started in the Department of Corrections as a counselor in 1999 at SCI Somerset. She was promoted to unit manager at SCI Laurel Highlands in 2008 and returned to SCI Somerset as unit manager the same year. In 2011, she was named major of unit management at SCI Somerset. In 2014, Hainsworth was named deputy superintendent for facilities management at SCI Somerset before being promoted to superintendent in 2017.
 
Eric Tice began his DOC career as a corrections officer at SCI Graterford in 1993. In 1996, Tice was transferred to SCI Houtzdale where he achieved the rank of captain.  After serving as deputy superintendent for facilities management at SCI Forest and SCI Rockview, Tice was named superintendent at SCI Huntingdon in January 2016. One year later he was named superintendent at SCI Smithfield.
 
 
Jamey Luther began her corrections career in 1996 as a drug and alcohol treatment specialist at Quehanna Boot Camp. In 2000, she moved to the Johnstown Community Corrections Center as a corrections counselor before transferring to SCI Pine Grove as a drug and alcohol treatment supervisor and later deputy superintendent for centralized services (DSCS). She went on to serve as DSCS at SCI Cresson until its closing in 2013. At that time, she was promoted to deputy superintendent for facilities management at SCI Laurel Highlands. In 2014 Luther was named superintendent at Laurel Highlands.
 
MEDIA CONTACT: Susan McNaughton, 717-728-4025; Amy Worden, 717-728-4026
 
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