The leader of Iowa’s prison system will keep his job when Governor-elect Terry Branstad takes office next month. Branstad announced today that John Baldwin will be retained as director of the Iowa Department of Corrections.

The 60-year-old Baldwin was appointed to the position in 2007. He had previously served as the deputy director of the Iowa DOC. Baldwin, a native of Fort Dodge, is responsible for overseeing nine state prisons and community corrections programs in eight districts around the state.

Branstad praised Baldwin for “keeping costs to second-lowest in the country.” Over the next few years, the Iowa Department of Corrections will be building a new maximum security prison in Fort Madison and expanding and renovating the women’s prison in Mitchellville.