MDOC makes another unexplained leadership shift

The superintendent of the newly renamed women’s prison at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility was removed from her position this week.

Several advocates told Mississippi Today that Latoya Anderson was escorted off the grounds Tuesday. Anderson was in charge of the Mississippi Correctional Institute for Women, which the Department of Corrections in a March Facebook post called its newest prison. 

Tereda Hairston is the superintendent of the women’s prison at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility Credit: Courtesy of MEDOC

A MDOC spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Anderson’s employment, but her biography was removed from MDOC’s CMCF facility page, and by Thursday evening was replaced with a headshot for a new superintendent, Tereda Hairston.  

Hairston formerly worked as a community corrections director.

Anderson’s departure comes weeks after Karei McDonald Jr., the second in command of MDOC, was replaced with another deputy commissioner and his biography was removed from the department’s executive leadership page. 

CMCF was one of four Mississippi prisons targeted by the Justice Department for investigation following allegations of gang violence, poor conditions and abuse. That federal probe led to an investigation into allegations of corruption and to the removal of 10 employees at the prison in September 2020. 

Anderson, a Jackson State University graduate, previously was in charge of the department’s Community Work Centers, and she served as deputy warden of the Flowood Community Work Center, MDOC wrote in a September 2022 Facebook post.

She had been with the department for 15 years and also worked as a correctional officer, sergeant, correctional commander, case manager, alcohol and drug instructor and an instructor for the Thinking for a Change program. 

“Being the change the world needs to see is what motivates me and what better place to be a part of that change than at the MDOC,” Anderson said in the Facebook post. 

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