Allegheny County Jail acting Warden Shane Dady plans to leave his position at the end of the month, officials announced Thursday.
Dady, a deputy superintendent with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections at SCI Mercer, has served as the county’s acting warden since former warden Orlando Harper retired in September 2023. At a Jail Oversight Board meeting Thursday, Dady told members he plans to return to his role with the state.
A year-long contract between the county and state DOC temporarily authorized Dady to fill the warden vacancy. It was extended once but expires at the end of the month.
County officials are in the process of hiring a permanent warden. This summer, they retained POLIHIRE, a Washington, D.C.-based search firm, to identify and vet candidates for the position. The firm has been working with a nine-member search committee that includes County Executive Sara Innamorato, county Housing Authority police chief Mike Vogel, former state Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel, county councilor and oversight board member Bethany Hallam, and leaders from Human Services and other departments. Community groups and frequent oversight board meeting attendees also have been asked to weigh in on the search.
Innamorato thanked Dady for his work during the past 14 months.
“I know it hasn’t been easy,” she said, but “I appreciate you and your team stepping up and really helping us get more information out to the public and to do a lot of education with the public and with the Jail Oversight Board. [I] very much appreciate your leadership, and I think you’ve set the groundwork for continued progress and change at that facility.”
Dady acknowledged the historically contentious relationship between the board and the warden.
“The past year has represented a transition period for both the jail and the oversight board. Although our interactions have not been without challenges, I do believe we all want the best for those that we serve, and that is demonstrated by our improved collaboration. With that as our focus, we can only get better from here,” he said.
Though Dady’s public interactions with the board have been mostly cordial, the board’s relationship with his predecessor was more volatile.
Dady told WESA he hopes the next warden continues “communication with the public, communication with the Jail Oversight Board, just so that you know we're not trying to keep secrets from anybody in in the jail.”
He said that while he did not apply for the permanent warden position, “I could see myself returning to the county” after retiring from the state DOC.
Innamorato said the county manager’s office will issue a memo to the board in the coming days outlining how jail administration will work until a permanent warden is installed. She added that the selection committee will interview candidates during the next few weeks, and she hopes a warden will be selected “shortly after those interviews begin.”
County spokesperson Abigail Gardner said if the new warden is not selected before Dady departs, a current member of jail leadership will serve in an acting role until then.
The new warden candidate must be approved by the Jail Oversight Board.
