The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Dwayne Baker as the new warden of the Davidson Correctional Center in Lexington.
Baker had been the associate warden at the facility since 2014.
“Warden Baker has earned a wealth of experience in his decades of service to the public’s safety,” said Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons. “He has exceptional knowledge of the prison he now leads, and I’m glad to welcome him to our team of wardens who work so hard to protect the staff, the offenders, and our communities.”
In his new position, Baker is responsible for all operations at the prison, which is a male minimum custody facility that dates back to the 1930s.
The prison is a designated reentry facility, where a variety of programs and services are offered to assist offenders nearing their release dates to better transition back to their communities.
Offenders participate in the work release program, which started in 1958. The prison provides substance abuse treatment through DART aftercare and Alcoholics Anonymous. The religious programs Yokefellows and Prison Ministries are offered at the prison. Davidson Community College works with the prison to provide vocational classes in horticulture and carpentry training.
A veteran employee to state government, Baker began his career as a correctional officer in 1995 at the former Durham Correctional Center. He became a case manager at that prison in 2001 and in 2003 transferred to Wake Correctional Center in Raleigh to be a programs supervisor.He was promoted to programs director at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh in 2007 and was promoted again in 2014 to be the warden at the North Piedmont Correctional Center for Women in Lexington. Later that year, he moved to nearby Davidson Correctional to be the deputy warden.
Baker’s goals as the new warden are to continue to recruit, retain, train and hire good staff to operate the safest facility for staff and offenders.
“I want to use our community partners to assist with projects on the facility and with assisting offenders with transitioning back into the community,” he said.
Prior to joining the Department of Public Safety, Baker was a U.S. Army Reservist.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh and has completed the DPS PEAK Performance training.
His interests include reading, sports, traveling and movies.