Deputy Director Central District 

Joseph Yurkovich | Deputy Director Central District

Joseph Yurkovich was named acting deputy director of the Central District for the Illinois Department of Corrections on January 16, 2013, and became deputy director for that district on February 1, 2013. In that position, he oversees the operations of the Central District reception and classification center and correctional centers.

A 23-year veteran of the Illinois Department of Corrections, Yurkovich began his career as a correctional officer at Illinois River Correctional Center (IRCC) in June 1989. During his first 10 years of service, he worked on the front line of the facility in a variety of positions on all three security shifts at one time or another.

In 1999, he was appointed as the facility’s first intelligence unit officer. In 2000, he became IRCC's institutional intelligence unit coordinator and later that year was promoted to correctional sergeant. In 2001, he was appointed as District 2 intelligence unit coordinator, where he supervised intelligence units at a variety of correctional centers in northern Illinois. During the months of April and May 2008, he was temporarily assigned as the chief investigator at Stateville Correctional Center until June 2008 when he returned to his district coordinator duties.

In 2010, he was named warden of Jacksonville Correctional Center, where he oversaw the operation of the facility along with Greene County and Pittsfield Work Camps. He was then appointed acting warden of Hill Correctional Center in 2011 and was later named warden in 2012. He served as warden at Hill Correctional Center until his most recent appointment as acting deputy director of the Central District.