Steven Racette, the former superintendent of Clinton Correctional Facility is planning to retire at the end of the month.
Racette is due to leave on July 31st but has the option to change his mind before then. Thirty-year correction veteran Michael Kirkpatrick will be the new superintendent of the Clinton Correctional Facility after Racette’s retirement.
During the investigation into inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt’s disappearance, Racette, and close to a dozen other prison employees were placed on paid leave.
Matt was shot and killed on June 26, about 30 miles from the prison.
His fellow escapee, Sweat, was shot near the Canadian border two days later, and taken into custody.
Sweat is now at the state’s “Five Points Prison,” – in the Finger Lakes Area.
Meanwhile Joyce Mitchell, the prison supervisor accused of helping Matt and Sweat escape was transferred from Rensselaer County to the custody of the Clinton County Sheriff’s office.