A familiar face is returning to the Carbon County Correctional Facility.

On Wednesday, the county prison board made a motion to hire James Youngkin as the prison’s new warden, effective Nov. 29. He will be paid $35 an hour.

The board has been working to fill the position since April, after former Warden Timothy Fritz was fired following an incident at the prison. The state named Laura Banta as the acting warden for the facility until a new warden was hired.

Sheriff Tony Harvilla, president of the prison board, said that Banta will serve at the prison until the end of the year.

This will allow Youngkin and Banta to work together for a month to provide a seamless transition.

Harvilla said the county had numerous applications, but only three were interviewed.

“Mr. Youngkin was the most qualified individual who presented the best vision for positive change at the prison,” Harvilla said.

Youngkin previously served as the prison’s warden from March 1, 2007 until retiring on March 16, 2010.

He began his career in the penal system in 1986 when he was hired at the old Carbon County Prison on Broadway in Jim Thorpe.

He was promoted to sergeant in 1988.

In 1995, Youngkin was promoted to deputy warden of the new prison in Nesquehoning.