Roll of Honor
Julian Arsenio Priest, III
Incident
Associate Warden Julian Priest died as the result of complications after contracting COVID-19 while assigned to the Tabor Correctional Institution in Tabor City, North Carolina.
Associate Warden Priest was a U.S. Navy veteran and had served with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety for 29 years.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Associate Warden III Julian Arsenio Priest, III died on December 24, 2020 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 57.
He is one of 884 officers honored here, and one of 10 at North Carolina Department of Public Safety - Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and three children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NC-CD11432C- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Associate Warden III Priest gave the North Carolina Department of Public Safety 29 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of North Carolina. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Associate Warden III Priest.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Julian Arsenio Priest, III served in the Marine Corps (1983â1991) before joining law enforcement.
Associate Warden III Julian Arsenio Priest, III is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In NC, 37 of 664 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 5.6% of this state's fallen. That is 3.5 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At North Carolina Department of Public Safety - Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice, 10 of 31 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 32.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Julian Arsenio Priest, III's cause is highlighted.
How Julian Arsenio Priest, III Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Julian Arsenio Priest, III is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
30 officers from North Carolina Department of Public Safety - Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
