Santa Maria Sun / News

Lompoc penitentiary gets a new warden

By JEREMY THOMAS

Officials with the federal penitentiary in Lompoc announced the selection of Richard B. Ives as the prison’s new warden, replacing Lisa Sanders, who’s leaving the post by August.

Meet the new boss: Richard B. Ives, warden of a U.S. penitentiary in Kentucky, will take over as the new warden at the Federal Correctional Complex in Lompoc, beginning in September. He replaces warden Lisa Sanders, who’s transferring to Illinois. PHOTO COURTESY OF FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS

Ives is currently warden at the U.S. penitentiary in McCreary, Ky., but is returning to Lompoc, where he served from 1987 to 1994. He’ll take over the job starting in September, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Ives has been with the bureau since 1986 and has been warden at the McCreary prison since April 2011. He was also warden at the Federal Correctional Institution in Herlong, Calif.

Ives replaces Sanders, who served as warden of the Federal Correctional Complex since 2007 and is leaving the Central Coast to become warden at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in her home state of Illinois.

Sanders was the Lompoc penitentiary’s first female and first African-American warden. She was born in Mount Vernon, Ill., and attended Southern Illinois University, beginning her career in 1987 at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, Minn. She came to Lompoc from Forest City, Ark. and will continue serving as Lompoc’s warden until the end of July. She’ll start her new job on Aug. 12.

“It has been my longest duty station and one of my favorites,” Sanders said in a press release. “The institution has undergone a number of positive changes during my tenure, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to serve and be a part of it. While Illinois is home, I will miss Central California and the Lompoc community.”