After seven years as the warden of the Bradford County Correctional Facility, Kevin Losinger resigned during a special prison board meeting Monday.
The reason behind Losinger’s resignation was not given.
    “Due to the fact that this is a personnel matter, it will not be commented on any further,” a press release from the prison board stated.
    Bradford County Sheriff Steve Evans, the chairman of the prison board, has been appointed to fill in as warden until a replacement can be found.
    Evans will “take over complete control immediately,” the release stated.
Evans operated the facility prior to the hire of Losinger.
    “Sheriff Evans is both experienced and qualified and has the prison board’s complete confidence to operate the facility while the search for a new Warden is being conducted,” the release stated. “The prison board would like to assure the public and those who may have family members in the facility that it is in good operation.”    
    A great deal of controversy has faced the jail throughout Losinger’s tenure as warden, some of it related to him, much of it related to the expansion project at the facility, which was completed earlier this year.
    That project was facilitated by an overcrowding concern at the jail, which led to inmates sleeping on the floors of cells due to a lack of space. Inmates were also being sent out of the county to Tioga County, Pa., to be housed at their jail.
    Last week a suicide was reported at the facility.
    The Bradford County Coroner’s office named the cause of death for 44-year-old Ralph Starace Sr. as being “the result of hanging with no foul play.”
    This is the second such incident at the facility in recent years. However, previously the suicide was only attempted.
    It is not clear if the suicide is related to Losinger’s resignation.
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    Lisa R. Howeler can be reached at lrhoweler@morning-times.com.