Charles Ellis of Ewing Township assumed his duties as chief of staff for the New Jersey Department of Corrections on April 8, 2002.

As chief of staff, he will help to guide a department that is responsible for more than 9,500 employees, 14 institutions and a jurisdictional inmate population of approximately 27,000 housed in state facilities, county jails and community halfway houses.

Ellis spent 23 years with the NJDOC until his appointment as director of operations for the state's Juvenile Justice Commission in November 1999. In that capacity, he facilitated daily operations of all Juvenile Justice Commission community programs and secured facilities.

He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1969 until 1975, then
began his career with the Department of Corrections in 1976 as a correction officer at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. While assigned there, Ellis was involved in the Executive Protection Group and the Special Operations Group, and he served as a range instructor and Policeman's Benevolent Association vice president.

In 1992, Ellis was appointed assistant superintendent of the Vroom Readjustment Unit, in Trenton (the building now houses the NJDOC's Central Reception and Assignment Facility). He was then named superintendent of the New Jersey Training School, where he was responsible for the operation of a century-old facility housing more than 400 juvenile males.

Ellis became associate administrator of Bayside State Prison in Leesburg in 1996. Three years later, he served as acting administrator of Mid-State Correctional Facility in Wrightstown. He remained there until his appointment to the Juvenile Justice Commission in November 1999.