The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Stephen Jacobs as the new warden of Scotland Correctional Institution in Laurinburg.
Jacobs, 53, had been the warden at Tabor Correctional Institution in Tabor City.
“Warden Jacobs is taking on the challenge of leading his fifth North Carolina prison facility,” said Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons. “He is a remarkable professional, with exceptional experience and the leadership skills needed to run the large, complex operation at Scotland Correctional.”
In his new position, Jacobs is responsible for all operations at the Scotland Correctional Institution, which houses close, medium and minimum custody male offenders.
The facility is a 1,756-bed, high-security prison facility located near the Laurinburg-Maxton Airport in Laurinburg.
The prison opened in September 2003 as a 1,000-bed close custody facility. A 504-bed medium security addition opened in March 2011, and a 252-bed minimum security unit opened in July 2011.
The prison employs correctional officers, administrative, food service, medical, dental and maintenance staff. The prison also houses a dialysis unit.
A veteran employee to state government, Jacobs began his career in 1993 as a correctional officer at the former Cabarrus Correctional Center.
In 1995, Jacobs became a case analyst at Craven Correctional Institution and was promoted two years later to senior case analyst at the facility. In 2007, he was tapped to be the director of the facility’s diagnostic center. He was named the assistant superintendent of programs at both Craven and Wayne Correctional Institutions in 2010.
He then served four years, from 2014 to 2018, as the Director of the Robeson Confinement in Response to Violation Center, which houses and provides intensive behavior modification programs for those who have committed technical violations of probation, parole or post-release supervision.
From 2018 to 2020, he served as warden at Columbus Correctional Institution. He was named warden at Tabor Correctional in May 2021.
Jacobs earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, with a minor in English, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master’s in criminal justice from East Carolina University.
During his 28-year career, he graduated from the year-long Correctional Leadership Development Program as well as specialized training in Equal Employment Opportunities, Interaction Management and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention. He also served as a training instructor in Cognitive Behavioral Intervention.
He was born in Laurinburg and was raised in Raeford. His hobbies include hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities.