The Delco jail chief resigned after just months on the job
Willie Bonds served for only six months in a period in which the George W. Hill Correctional Facility began improvements.
The chief warden of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Delaware County has resigned after less than six months on the job, according to a statement released by the county government.
Willie Bonds’ decision was motivated by family considerations and the opportunity to pursue other interests, according to the Delco officials. Bonds will continue to serve as the chief of the facility until an interim warden is appointed.
The George W. Hill facility has been mired by scandal in recent years. The last chief to run the facility was ousted in a no-confidence votes by the labor union representing the prison’s guards. In the last two years, guards have been charged with smuggling fentanyl and K2 into the facility; inmates were accidentally released; and a inmate was killed by his cellmate, who was considered high-risk and supposed to be placed alone.
Bonds was appointed to his position as chief of the facility in February. Last year, he served as the interim warden of the facility and he has worked in the facility since 2024, starting as deputy warden of security and training. He began his career in the New Jersey Department of Corrections in 1998.
During his time as deputy warden, a federal lawsuit alleged that county officials fired guards without due process.
After the Pennsylvania Prison Society conducted a walk-through of the facility and interviewed inmates in 2025, Bonds responded to the facility’s detailed shortcomings in a letter. The nonprofit advocacy group characterized his response, which added details about the prison’s conditions, as candid.
The group said in a report that the facility had made significant improvements with a $50 million commitment from the county in 2025, but noted that the prison did not have enough staff for the number of inmates in the facility. At the time that the report was researched, there were 1,125 inmates, according to a response sent by Bonds. The total staff number was not reported.
The Prison Society‘s report noted “the fundamentally unsafe conditions that Bonds now has the responsibility for fixing — conditions will not be fixed with building repairs alone but will require major shifts in organizational culture.”
Delaware County hopes to continue efforts to improve the facility, the county’s statement said.
