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GUNNISON — The Utah Department of Corrections on Monday announced the appointment of the state's first female warden.
Kristen Keisel will become the warden at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, replacing Bart Mortensen, who has been named the new warden at the prison in Salt Lake City.
"This promotion makes her the first female prison warden in the history of the Utah Department of Corrections," the department said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Corrections later clarified that Keisel is now "the first female warden of a full prison operation for the Utah Department of Corrections. Betty Gaines-Jones was named the warden of the women's facility at the Utah State Prison in 1986."
Keisel, who has an associate degree in criminal justice, began her corrections career in 2006 as an officer. She later served as a case manager in the maximum security unit of the central Utah facility, and was named deputy warden in 2021.
