McELHATTAN - Clinton County Correctional Facility Warden Tom Duran walked into a maintenance building Wednesday, and walked out a few moments later from the Thomas V. Duran Development Center.
The honor was handed down following a meeting of the Clinton County Prison Board, where the members unanimously voted to name the new training center after the warden.
Staff members worked behind locked doors for six or seven weeks in converting the facility into a training area, paying special attention to keep Duran in the dark while they refurbished and decorated the room on a budget of $7,000.
According to Deputy Warden David Harkey, the work was very much a labor of respect and admiration for Duran's administrative abilities.
Duran said he was honored and humbled by the recognition and thanked both the board and staff members for thinking him worthy.
"We've been secretive about this," Board Chairman Tom Bossert said, "but we want you to know that both the board and the Clinton County commissioners have been supportive of this designation."
The development center has been in the making, Harkey said, because the expansion of the facility in 2003 added 13 new staff members, and the former staff training room has proved inadequate. The prison conducts daily training sessions and rents the nearby Restless Oaks restaurant for annual training cycles.
Since the new prison was dedicated in 2000, it has seen only three wardens to date, including Arwyn Reish, Michael McLaughlin and Duran.
Of those administrators, Duran has the longest tenure, having served 13 years and counting.
Local officials said since his arrival in 1993, Duran has achieved a number of objectives, including development of a system of housing out-of-county inmates, thereby saving money for local taxpayers; an instrumental role in the 2003 expansion of the prison and increased revenue that produced, and recognition of the prison as one of the most modern and well run facilities in the state.
Duran received "Warden of The Year" honors in 2009 from the Pennsylvania Prison Wardens Association.
The changes during his tenure included the largest increase in prison population, from 50 to 400 over the years (the inmate population now hovers around 300), expansion of the physical plant, and increased emphasis on employee productiveness.
When Duran began, the average term of service among prison staff members was nine months; today, employees are more apt to stay for at least five years.
Duran has served as the local warden since 1993, except for a two-year stint as warden in Gettysburg.
