The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named John Godfrey as the new warden of the Harnett Correctional Institution in Lillington.
Godfrey, 48, had been the warden at the Sanford Correctional Center in Sanford since December 2013.
A veteran employee to state government, Godfrey began his career as a correctional officer at the Sanford Correctional Center in 1993. A year later, he was promoted to program assistant at the facility and a year after that he was promoted to program supervisor. In 2004, he was named program director at the facility.
In 2007, he was promoted to assistant superintendent for programs at Albemarle Correctional Institution in Badin.
In his new position, Godfrey is responsible for all operations at the Harnett Correctional Institution, which is a medium custody facility for adult male offenders.
During his career, Godfrey served on the prison emergency response team, the hostage negotiating team and graduated as a certified public manager from the public manager program sponsored by the Office of State Personnel.
A lifelong resident of Lee County, Godfrey graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a degree in criminal justice and completed the year-long Correctional Leadership Development Program.