The superintendent of Vermont's newest prison has left his job there after three years.

Vermont Corrections Department officials won't say why Kevin Ashburn left the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, but they do say it wasn't planned.

Ashburn spent two years as an independent consultant before taking the superintendent's job.

Corrections Commissioner Rob Hofmann says Ashburn's duties will be taken over by other prison officials.

The 375-bed Southern State opened in 2003 and houses inmates with the most complicated medical issues and older inmates.