BRENTWOOD, Tenn., May 4, 2023 -- CoreCivic's Doug Fender received the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents (NAAWS) 2023 Warden of the Year at the NAAWS Annual Conference - Warden of the Year Banquet, held recently in Columbus, Ohio. The NAAWS Warden of the Year award recognizes a warden who has gone the extra mile to solve problems in their organization, involve themselves in community and local organizations, and mentored in the development of others.

Annette Chambers‐Smith, Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC), nominated Warden Fender, and it is the first time in NAAWS' history that a nomination was submitted for someone employed outside of the nominator's organization. According to Chambers-Smith, Fender’s nomination was particularly unique because he serves as the warden at one of ODRC's privately operated facilities.

"Warden Fender is such a charismatic leader with an outlook and approachable personality that are magnetic to those on his team," Chambers-Smith said. "The pride that he has in his staff is contagious, and he takes every opportunity to boast about the employees at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution (LaECI)."

"Doug Fender is very deserving of this very prestigious national award. He consistently demonstrates exceptional leadership and does so with professionalism, respect, integrity, duty, and excellence for his staff and for those individuals that have been entrusted to our care," said Patrick Swindle, Executive Vice President, and Chief Operating Officer for CoreCivic. "CoreCivic is extremely grateful for our long-standing partnership with ODRC, and especially honored to have one of our wardens to be the first NAAWS Warden of the Year recipient that was nominated by a state partner," Swindle added.

To learn more about Warden Doug Fender and the numerous reasons why he was selected for this well-deserved recognition, we have attached ODRC's nomination submission to this release.

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About CoreCivic

CoreCivic is a diversified, government-solutions company with the scale and experience needed to solve tough government challenges in cost-effective ways. We provide a broad range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through high-quality corrections and detention management, innovative and cost-saving government real estate solutions, and a growing network of residential and non-residential alternatives to incarceration that help address America's recidivism crisis. We are the nation's largest owner of partnership correctional, detention and residential reentry facilities, and believe we are the largest private owner of real estate used by U.S. government agencies. The company has been a flexible and dependable partner for government for more than 40 years. Our employees are driven by a deep sense of service, high standards of professionalism and a responsibility to help government better the public good. Learn more at www.corecivic.com.