LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The head of Louisville's jail system is stepping down.
According to a release from Mayor Greg Fischer's office, Louisville Metro Department of Corrections Director Dwayne Clark has announced that he will retire next month.
Clark has been the LMDC director since 2019. In the release, Mayor Fischer applauded Clark's leadership during a "once-in-a-generation" pandemic.
"He rose to this historic moment by putting numerous reforms in place to improve the conditions of the jail for our inmate population and for our dedicated Metro Corrections employees," Fischer said.
The mayor added that, under Clark's leadership, the jail had its lowest number of incarcerated people "in recent years." He also said Clark helped reach an agreement with the union to improve starting salaries for new LMDC recruits and existing officers.
During Clark's tenure, the jail has struggled through severe staffing shortages and several deaths inside the facility, including seven within the last five months. Both the union representing Metro Corrections officers and Louisville Metro Council cast "no-confidence" votes against Clark and LMDC leadership as a whole.
Metro Council also voted to launch an independent investigation into the jail last month.
“It has zero impact on the investigation,” Metro Council President James said, noting one exception. “Director Clark will not be an employee of the city, he can refuse to communicate with the investigator."
Clark took over as LMDC director in 2019 after serving as the department's chief of staff for nearly 10 years. Before coming to Louisville, he worked at the Illinois Department of Corrections for nearly 25 years.
When asked about a replacement for Clark, FOP President Daniel Johnson said, “Could you do much worse?”
Still, he said the union should take part in the decision-making process. "Nobody knows it better than we do. We're in there, day in and day out 16 plus hours a day. We're living it,” Johnson said. “And oftentimes with the administration that's in place, they're living it from behind their desk in an office."
Mayor Fischer said a replacement will be chosen and announced before Clark's departure from the department.
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