Elijah McCoy, who had been serving as interim warden for the Decatur County Correctional Institute, has been appointed by county commissioners to serve in the position on a permanent basis.

County commissioners voted unanimously to appoint McCoy as warden at the close of their Tuesday evening meeting.

McCoy had previously been appointed interim warden in July 2008 when Jim Miller, a longtime warden of DCCI, went on a prolonged medical leave and then retired recently.

McCoy had been serving as deputy warden since 1994.

The correctional institute is part of the Georgia Department of Corrections’ state prison network and is classified as a minimum security facility, according to the Department of Corrections Web site. DCCI’s mission is to provide housing for up to 200 male state and county inmates. It also provides work details to the county Road Department, both the old landfill off Georgia Highway 309 and the new one at U.S. 27 South and other county and state government agencies. The prison was constructed in 1954 and renovated in 1977.

McCoy a criminal justice veteran

McCoy, 44, is a veteran in the criminal justice field, according to biographical information provided by DCCI.

He graduated from military police academy in 1984 and went on to attend federal law enforcement training and Georgia Corrections Academy in 1989-1990. He was hired as deputy warden of DCCI in 1994.

McCoy has more than 600 hours of certified training through the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council (POST), on topics ranging from crime scene procedures to gang identification. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice at Albany State College.

Other business

• Approved, by unanimous vote, the appointment of Ron Harrigan of SIPS as Decatur County’s representative on the Southwest Georgia Workforce Investment Board. At their March 10 meeting, commissioners unanimously approved the appointment of Erica Mills to the Department of Family and Children Services Board.

• Held an approximately 30-minute closed session for the purpose of discussing personnel and litigation matters. When the open meeting resumed, Chairman Palmer Rich stated litigation was discussed but no action would be taken.