A 21-year veteran of Corrections, Warden Howerton began his career in corrections as a Correctional Officer in 1987 at the Vanderburgh Community Corrections Complex in Evansville, Indiana. In 1989 he went to work for the Indiana Department of Correction at the Branchville Correctional Facility. Howerton worked his way up through the ranks and held several key positions at the prison including sergeant, release coordinator, unit administrator, and public information officer as well as accreditation manager. In 2003 Howerton was promoted to Deputy Warden of Programs at the Branchville prison.
Throughout his career in Corrections he has specialized in the area of tactical training. Howerton was a K-9 handler and a member of the Emergency Squad (C.E.R.T/Corrections Emergency Response Team). Howerton was an Emergency Response Operations team member from 1989 to 1998. He has also served as Corrections hostage negotiator, SIT-CON (Situation Control) Team Leader for seven years and was a Certified DOC Firearms/Chemical Agent Instructor and Facility Armory Officer. Additionally, he is currently a Certified Consultant/Auditor for the American Correctional Association (ACA).
In 2005, Howerton was appointed Superintendent (Warden) at the Edinburgh Correctional Facility in Edinburgh, Ind. Later in 2005, Howerton accepted the position of Deputy Warden at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex. Howerton was appointed Warden at Blackburn Correctional Complex in July, 2008.
Howerton is a graduate of Indiana University with a concentration in social sciences, and a minor in sociology.