Carbon County officials have terminated its prison warden.

During a special meeting of the county prison board on Thursday afternoon, the board voted 6-0 in favor of terminating the employment of Warden Joseph Gross of Nazareth, effective immediately. According to the annual salary board meeting agenda in January, he was paid $55,764.80 a year.When asked for comment on the action, the board said it was a "personnel matter" and could not comment.Deputy Warden Timothy Fritz will be in charge at the prison until further notice, the board reported. No discussion occurred on what will be done to fill the vacancy.Gross had been in charge of the Carbon County Correctional Facility in Nesquehoning, which averages 200 inmates daily, since Sept. 7, 2010, when he filled the vacancy created by the retirement of then Warden James Youngkin earlier that year. He oversaw one deputy warden, a work release/treatment director, five sergeants, and a number of full-time and part-time corrections officers.Before his employment in Carbon County, Gross was a sergeant for the City of Bethlehem Police Department for 20 years, an officer for Northampton Police and previously a sergeant at the Lehigh County Prison in Allentown.Gross is also a veteran of the United States Army military police, having served from 1980-1983, and holds certifications from the Allentown Police Academy; Lehigh Carbon Community College, where he received an associate degree in criminal justice; and Moravian College, where he received a bachelor's degree in sociology.