ANGOLA - Burl Cain, the warden of Angola State Penitentiary for two decades, will resign at the end of this year.

The warden made the announcement Wednesday evening that he will step down effective Jan. 1, 2016, according to a spokesperson with Governor Bobby Jindal's office.

“Warden Burl Cain informed me today that he intended to retire as Warden of Louisiana State Penitentiary.  He will leave the Warden’s position effective January 1, 2016," Department of Public Safety and Corrections Jimmy Le Blanc said.

“Since 1995, Warden Cain has been responsible for the operations of one of the largest maximum security prisons in the country.  His leadership and experience have been tremendous assets to the Department.  Other states have followed Warden Cain’s lead and mimicked programs and policies he instituted over the years.  The Department wishes him the best in his retirement,” Le Blanc said.

The resignation comes after an investigative report by The Advocate newspaper into Cain's business and real estate dealings, which the Department of Corrections said they would review and which came under scrutiny by the state legislative auditor.

The governor's spokesperson said Jindal did not ask Cain to resign.

Cain was named to the post in 1995 by Richard Stalder, who was at that time the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Before then he served as warden of Dixon Correctional Institute starting in 1981.

In 2008, Cain became the longest-serving warden of Angola in the prison's history. A devout Christian, Cain focused on spiritual redemption as a way to rehabilitate prisoners.