Marquette Branch Prison names first female warden
Former warden Robert Napel named Assistant Deputy Director for Correctional Facilities Administration
Erica Huss has been named warden of Marquette Branch Prison, becoming the first female leader of the 128-year-old institution.
Huss is the 21st warden of the facility and has spent 23 years of her career with the Michigan Department of Corrections.
She was appointed to the position following the promotion of former warden Robert Napel to assistant deputy director for the Correctional Facilities Administration of the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Napel joined the Michigan Department of Corrections in 1978 as a corrections officer, and has held a number of positions including assistant resident unit manager, resident unit manager, assistant deputy warden and deputy warden. He became warden of Marquette Branch Prison in 2010. As assistant deputy director he will be responsible for overseeing the operations of correctional facilities in the Upper Peninsula and in Northern Michigan. His appointment was effective Dec. 1, 2017.
Huss began her career as a corrections officer at Camp Cusino in 1994. She later moved on to roles as resident unit manager, assistant deputy warden and deputy warden at facilities that included Ojibway and Ionia Correctional Facilities and Marquette Branch Prison. She most recently served as deputy warden at Marquette Branch Prison. Her appointment as warden was effective Dec. 31, 2017.
Huss is a graduate of Luther L. Wright School in Ironwood, Mich. She earned her bachelor’s degree in behavioral psychology from Northern Michigan University. Napel, a Wakefield, Mich. native, earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Northern Michigan University.
Huss and Napel believe protecting the community and providing prisoners with the tools they need to be productive, self-sufficient and successful citizens are central to the mission of the Michigan Department of Corrections.
