RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Senate on Tuesday confirmed Gov. Roy Cooper's choice to lead the state's new standalone Cabinet-level agency overseeing adult prisons, probation and other community supervision.

Senators voted unanimously for Todd Ishee to remain secretary of the Department of Adult Correction. Cooper announced Ishee's appointment in September, before the department became an official agency on Jan. 1.

Ishee had been state prison commissioner within the Department of Public Safety since 2019, leading state prison operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. He had been recruited in August to lead the American Correctional Association, but Cooper persuaded him to stay and take the secretary's role.

During a judiciary committee confirmation hearing last week, Ishee discussed goals to lower the department's job vacancy rate, improve correctional officer safety and bolster offender rehabilitation efforts.

A 2016 law subjects Cabinet members to Senate confirmation. All but one of Cooper's nominees have been confirmed.

Separately Tuesday, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Nels Roseland as state controller. State law requires Roseland to also receive House confirmation.

Last May, Cooper announced Roseland, then the deputy state budget director, as his choice to succeed Linda Morrison Combs for a seven-year term. The controller keeps the state’s books, monitors cash flow and manages state payroll.