The Allegheny County Jail is losing its third warden in a year, as the search for a permanent warden continues.
Interim Warden Trevor Wingard's last day is Jan. 13, state Department of Corrections spokeswoman Susan Bensinger said Monday.
Wingard will become superintendent at SCI-Laurel Highlands in Somerset County on Jan. 16. A state employee, he became the county's interim warden when county officials asked the corrections department for help.
"I'd hire (Wingard) if he'd come, but I don't think he's interested," said Allegheny County President Judge Donna Jo McDaniel, who heads the jail's oversight board.
Wingard did not return a phone message seeking comment.
The turnover in the warden's office began when Ramon Rustin took a job in New Mexico in January. He left amid scandal: criminal charges that one worker beat an inmate, corruption accusations against the jail's internal affairs chief and several lawsuits.
In November, federal authorities arrested former top guard James Donis on charges that he beat an inmate and lied during an investigation.
Daniel Burns replaced Rustin on an interim basis, and Wingard replaced Burns in August. McDaniel said she learned of Wingard's impending departure last week.
"(It) was sort of a surprise to me," she said.
McDaniel said she hoped the state would provide another interim warden. Rich Fitzgerald, who takes office as county executive Jan. 3, said he likely will ask for one, or temporarily promote a deputy warden.
"Obviously, the important thing is to get a permanent warden, but we have to get this right," Fitzgerald said.
A search committee that County Executive Dan Onorato formed in April hired a Massachusetts firm to conduct a nationwide search for a warden, McDaniel said. The committee has not interviewed any candidates, she said.
"As soon as the holidays are over, we've got to put some pedal to the metal. We have to get moving on this," McDaniel said.
Several other search committee members, representing law enforcement, judiciary, community groups and county government, did not return phone messages seeking comment.
McDaniel said the goal is to submit the names of three or four candidates to Fitzgerald. She said the search "has been a long process," complicated by Onorato's departure.
Onorato spokeswoman Judi McNeil did not respond to messages for comment.
