The Nash County Sheriff’s Office has hired a new leader to manage inmates, employees and the budget at the Nash County Detention Center.

On Monday, the Nash County Sheriff’s Office hired Kevin Barnes as the new Jail Administrator of the Nash County Detention Center in Nashville, N.C.

Kevin Barnes is a Wilson County native with 31 years of experience working in prisons, including 28 years of supervisory and management experience in prisons across North Carolina.

Before retiring from the North Carolina Department Public Safety, Barnes served as the Correctional Administrator at Warren Correctional Institution in Warrenton, NC for two years. There, he oversaw more than 850 male inmates, 400 employees, and managed an annual operating budget of more than $20 million.

Barnes has worked in eleven different custody levels and held various managerial positions at correctional facilities in Wake, Nash, Pasquotank, Pamlico, Craven Wayne, and Warren Counties.

He has been involved in prison construction and the openings of Nash Correctional Institution in Nashville, NC, Pasquotank Correctional Institution in Elizabeth City, NC, and Craven Correctional Institution in Vanceboro, NC, and Pamlico Correctional Institution in Bayboro, NC.

Mr. Barnes has earned various awards, including the Old North State Award, and he has completed the Correctional Leadership Development Program.

While working in corrections, Mr. Barnes began college in 2010 at Wesleyan College, graduating in 2014 with three bachelor’s degrees in Criminal Justice, Psychology and Religious Studies. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice at Kaplan University.

Mr. Barnes is married to Priscilla Barnes and they have one adult child name Kedron Jamal Barnes. They are actively involved in church at Contending for the Faith Church Ministries.