Bedford County jail Warden David Kessling resigned suddenly this week in an email to county officials, ending less than two years in charge of the county’s correctional facility.

Kessling of Hollidaysburg tendered his resignation Tuesday or Wednesday at the end of an email that included “personal” information, County Commissioner Chairman Kirt Morris said. Morris declined to share the email and said the county’s right-to-know officer might have to redact information before it can be released.

He said Kessling hadn’t been pressured to resign and wasn’t facing any investigation.

“I was surprised,” Morris said. “He was wonderful. He was the best one we ever had.”

Kessling’s tenure included at least one security concern: The escape in September of burglary suspect Jeremiah Moser, who climbed a basketball hoop in the jail’s recreation yard and remained on the run for a day. The jail was set to tighten security measures to prevent a similar escape, and Morris had reaffirmed his support for Kessling shortly after the incident.

A jail employee was suspended for a day after the escape, commissioners said at the time.

Kessling – a longtime employee of the state prison system – had a reputation for repairing troubled facilities, running the Monroe County jail after a scandal there and taking over in Bedford after his predecessor, Donald Orr, resigned. Orr, who has been sued by several former employees for alleged discrimination, was under investigation for a “security breach” when he tendered his resignation.

Kessling didn’t appear to face similar questions, at least not from the commissioners.

“There was no problem with the warden,” Morris stressed.

Kessling didn’t answer a call at his home number. The other county commissioners, Barry Dallara and Paul Crooks, didn’t answer calls seeking comment.

Aside from the September escape, there were few publicly known problems at the jail. A handful of inmates have been charged for drug and contraband possession in recent months, but Morris said neither Kessling nor his subordinates were under investigation for involvement or breaches.

In the past, the commissioners had praised Kessling for his work to cut costs, tighten overtime and modernize the jail. In December 2013, Kessling helped introduce a system that would allow prisoners to send and receive email under strict limits.

His departure renders the jail’s future less clear. When they hired Kessling, the commissioners acknowledged they’d considered closing the expensive facility altogether.

Mirror Staff Writer Ryan Brown is at 946-7457.