The warden who was hired in December to address problems at the Effingham County prison is ready to train a successor and retire.
Billy Tompkins was coaxed out of retirement, after 37 years in the state Department of Corrections, to become warden Dec. 28. He addressed a “host of problems” at the prison that were cited in two anonymous emails sent to the Savannah Morning News.
The problems included a lack of maintenance, problems with staff members and inmates out on work detail getting drunk on two occasions.
“Because of his level of expertise and operational knowledge, he quickly addressed previous matters of concern and implemented procedures which will allow Effingham County to hand the prison off to his successor seamlessly, keeping the facility running smoothly,” a news release from the county said Friday.
Tompkins will remain warden through the selection process for a new warden and to help train his successor.
The news release said he will retire “this year.”
Personnel changes
The Effingham prison went through a number of personnel changes recently.
The interim warden and a supervisor who were cited in a discrimination lawsuit at the prison were fired for violating standards of practice.
The county’s interim director of Human Resources, T. Kevin Hearn, said the firings were not related to accusations in the lawsuit.
Interim Warden Vickie Brown, who started work for the county on July 7, 2003, was fired and her last day was Jan. 7, Hearn said.
She violated the county’s human resources standards of practice, specifically, “incompetence or inefficiency in the performance of the duties of the position,” Hearn said.
Supervisor Gerald Frazier was fired for “conduct or language reflecting discredit on the county or county officials while on or off duty,” Hearn said.
His dates of employment were March 3, 2003, through Dec. 11.
Brown and Frazier, who are black, were cited in a discrimination lawsuit that county commissioners recently agreed to settle for $30,000. In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Richard T. White, a prison guard from Pooler, claimed he was discriminated against because he is white.
Frazier was White’s supervisor.
Four black guards who were White’s peers were given unfair advantage in schedules, the lawsuit alleged. Three of those four guards were still employed with the prison as of late February and the fourth resigned Jan. 23, county records indicate.
Brown became acting warden at the Effingham prison after Ronald Spears resigned in March 2014. An investigation showed that Spears used money obtained from the sale of confiscated cellphones for personal gain.