Bob Lewis, the new state prisons director, will be making $111,570 a year, according to a Department of Correction spokesman.

The DOC announced Lewis' appointment on Tuesday. He had been the deputy director for prison support services for the past eight years, Dan Kane reports.

He replaces Boyd Bennett, who is retiring at the end of the month.

Robert "Bob" Lewis has been named the state's new prisons director, the Correction Department announced this morning.

Lewis, 58, has been deputy director for prison support services for the past eight years.

As prisons director, Lewis will be in charge of 79 prisons that confine 40,000 inmates. The division has more than 17,000 employees, and an annual budget of $1.1 billion.

Correction Secretary Al Keller appointed Lewis to the post effective March 1, when he will succeed the retiring Boyd Bennett.

Lewis started his career as a correctional officer in 1973 at Triangle Correctional Center in Raleigh and rose through the ranks in custody, programs, security and management. He lives in Raleigh and is a graduate of St. Augustine's College.