At the quarterly meeting of the Public Safety Committee for Garner Correctional Institution on Tuesday, June 4, committee members met the prison’s new warden — Amonda Hannah.

Warden Hannah is the ninth warden of the 260,000-square-foot facility for male prisoners at 50 Nunnawauk Road, which opened in 1992. Warden Hannah, who is the second woman to head Garner, replaces Anthony Corcella as warden. As part of a major realignment of the state Department of Correction’s (DOC) management staff, which occurred in April, Mr Corcella, who served as Garner’s warden for one year, became the warden at Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Uncasville.

Before becoming Garner’s ninth warden in April, Ms Hannah had been the warden at the Bridgeport Correctional Center at 1106 North Avenue.

In introducing herself to committee members, Warden Hannah explained that it is the third time she has been assigned to Garner. She started work with the DOC in 1994 as an inmate counselor at Garner and later returned there to serve as a deputy warden under former Garner warden Scott Semple.

Mr Semple later became the DOC commissioner, serving in that role under Governor Dannel Malloy. After Ned Lamont was elected governor, Mr Semple resigned as commissioner. Governor Lamont then named Rollin Cook to head the DOC. Mr Cook formerly headed the Utah Department of Corrections.

Warden Hannah told committee members, “I’m very familiar with the facility,” having last worked at Garner as a deputy warden six years ago.

As they were seated around a table in a conference room at Newtown Municipal Center, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, who heads the panel, said to Ms Hannah, “Welcome.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” she replied.

The committee, whose membership includes representatives of the police department, fire service, school system, and Legislative Council, plus several town residents, has regular meetings for discussion of correctional safety and security issues posed by the presence of Garner.

Report To Committee 

In a report to the committee, Warden Hannah said that Garner held 588 inmates on June 4. Of that number, 441 men are serving prison sentences following criminal convictions. The other 147 inmates’ criminal cases have not yet been resolved in court. Those prisoners are the men who occasionally are transported to and from the prison for court appearances.

Warden Hannah said Garner will be the workplace for 18 new correction officers who are receiving their basic training from the DOC.

The warden explained that Garner also is expecting to receive ten inmates who are categorized as “Level 5” maximum-security prisoners, which is the highest security risk level in the DOC system. Garner currently has four mental health inmates who have such a Level 5 maximum-security rating, she said. Thus, Garner will be housing 14 inmates who are Level 5 prisoners. Such men are held in specialized quarters within the prison. Garner is designated as a “Level 4” high-security prison.

Garner is the state prison that specializes in housing and treating mental health inmates in the DOC system. The prison is located on a 118-acre parcel that formerly was part of the state’s Fairfield Hills acreage.