SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Ronald Davis, 43, of Visalia, has been appointed warden at Valley State Prison, Chowchilla, where he has served as acting warden since 2012. He was chief deputy warden at Avenal State Prison from 2010 to 2012 and held multiple positions at California State Prison, Corcoran from 2006 to 2010, including correctional administrator, facility captain and correctional captain. Davis served at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran as business manager and correctional lieutenant from 2002 to 2006. He held multiple positions at Salinas Valley State Prison from 1996 to 2002, including correctional lieutenant, correctional sergeant and correctional officer. He was also a correctional officer at the California Correctional Training Facility from 1994 to 1996. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $130,668. Davis is a Republican.
Randolf Grounds, 58, of Monterey, has been appointed warden at the Salinas Valley State Prison, where he has served as acting warden since 2012. Grounds held multiple positions at the California Correctional Training Facility since 2009, including warden and acting warden. He was associate warden at Salinas Valley State Prison from 2007 to 2009 and served at the California Correctional Institution as facility captain from 2004 to 2007 and classification and parole representative from 2001 to 2004. Grounds was correctional counselor supervisor at the California Correctional Institution from 1996 to 2001 and was a correctional counselor at California State Prison, Lancaster in 1996. He was a correctional counselor at the California Correctional Institution from 1991 to 1996 and a deputy probation officer at the El Dorado County Probation Department from 1988 to 1991. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $130,668. Grounds is registered decline-to-state.
Heidi Lackner, 53, of Mokelumne Hill, has been appointed warden at the Sierra Conservation Center, Jamestown, where she has served as acting warden since 2012 and was chief deputy administrator from 2011 to 2012. She was correctional administrator at Mule Creek State Prison from 2004 to 2011 and held multiple positions at Folsom State Prison from 1998 to 2004. Lackner was correctional business manager at the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center from 1995 to 1998 and staff services manager at California State Prison, Solano from 1993 to 1995. She held multiple positions at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Headquarters from 1985 to 1993, including labor relations specialist and staff services manager. Lackner earned a Master of Arts degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $130,668. Lackner is a Republican.
Sandra Pennywell, 47, of Hanford, has been appointed warden at North Kern State Prison, Delano, where she has served as acting warden since 2012. Pennywell was chief deputy administrator at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran from 2011 to 2012 and was associate warden at the Central California Women’s Facility from 2008 to 2011. She held multiple positions at Avenal State Prison from 1988 to 2008, including correctional officer, sergeant, counselor, lieutenant, facility captain and acting correctional administrator. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $130,668. Pennywell is a Republican.