Chester County’s prison warden will move to county government as commissioners restructure administrative team
Howard Holland, whose first day as acting prison warden coincided with Danilo Cavalcante's escape, will serve as the county's acting deputy county administrator.
Chester County’s prison warden will round out a new leadership team after the county’s top official left his job earlier this week.
Howard Holland, who has served as prison warden for the county since April 2024 and was its acting warden for eight months before that, has been appointed as acting deputy county administrator for operations and will complete a team of three newly named top county officials, the county announced this week.
“I have always advocated for improved government processes, and I’ve been particularly pleased by the changes Mr. Holland has undertaken at the prison,” County Commissioner Eric Roe said in a statement. “I’m happy to have him join our leadership team, and I look forward to his continued contributions as a manager and leader at the County level.”
The administrative team oversees 2,600 staff members and a roughly $730 million annual budget. They’re appointed by the county’s three elected commissioners.
The change comes just days after the county’s top official David Byerman left the job, and a new county administrator, Erik Walschburger, was named. Holland and deputy county administrator Megan Moser, whose role was renamed this week, will work under Walschburger.
Walschburger most recently was the county’s deputy administrator, a role he had held since 2022 overseeing internal day-to-day operations. Moser, who joined the county in 2025, has been involved with the county’s response to multiple election errors in recent months.
The county’s announcement on Wednesday made no mention of Byerman. A county spokesperson earlier this week declined to give a reason for his departure.
As Chester County shifts its personnel, it is reverting back to job titles it had used previously, retiring its use of “chief executive officer,” “chief operations officer,” and “chief experience officer” — a move it made roughly a year ago —for the more traditional title of county administrator and two deputies.
Holland comes to the job after a more than 30-year career in law enforcement, working as a police officer, special county detective, and an adviser to the county’s prison board. He was the chief of police for seven years in Downingtown.
His most recent job came with an electric start: The day he became acting prison warden, convicted murderer Danilo Cavalcante escaped the prison, resulting in a two-week search. Since that incident, Holland made changes to limit the risk of escape, and promised to add additional security measures to the facility.
With Holland’s move to county government, the Prison Board of Inspectors has appointed Brian Sheller as acting warden, county officials said. Sheller has been deputy warden since 2024, and served as the Parkesburg chief of police for more than 30 years.