The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Embery Morton Jr. as the new warden of the Carteret Correctional Center in Newport, N.C.

Morton, 44, had been associate warden at the facility since 2015.

"Warden Morton is a proven leader with decades of experience and a hands-on style to managing a complex prison," said Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons. "He brings hard-earned skills and a common-sense approach to his well-earned new position. He is an excellent addition to the team of outstanding professionals who run our prisons."

In his new position, Morton is responsible for all operations at Carteret Correctional, a male minimum custody facility. The prison is a designated reentry facility, where a variety of programs and services are offered to assist offenders nearing their release dates to better transition back to their communities.

Carteret Community College works with the prison to provide vocational classes in horticulture and for the developmentally disabled. Classes for adult education and preparation for the high school equivalency degree are also offered.

Offenders at the prison work in a number of jobs, when those job programs are in effect. They may be assigned to the community work program, Department of Transportation road crews, or work under contract for local government agencies. Offenders may also be assigned for maintenance or kitchen duties. Offenders nearing the end of their sentence may participate in work release, leaving the prison for the part of the day to work for a business in the community.

Offenders may participate in study release or substance abuse treatment programs or the Horticulture Program.

"A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better," said Warden Morton, quoting motivational speaker Jim Rohn.

A veteran employee to state government, Morton began his career in 1997 as a correctional officer at Craven Correctional Institution, where he was promoted to sergeant, then to lieutenant, and then to captain before he was named associate warden at Carteret Correctional Center.

Warden Morton holds a North Carolina Advanced Criminal Justice Certification by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Training and Standards Commission and also has a Criminal Justice General Instructor Certificate. He is currently attending the Correctional Leadership Development Program. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, and spending time with his grandchildren.

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