Georgia Spends $24 Million on ‘Hardened’ Prison Unit While Inmates Starve

Georgia is building a $24 million 'hardened' 126-bed unit at Hays State Prison as part of a $600 million construction surge, despite a DOJ finding that the state's prisons violate the Constitution through gang control and deliberate indifference. The new fortress-style approach ignores root causes like chronic understaffing and malnutrition that fuel the violence officials claim to be addressing.

Key Facts

1. DOJ found Georgia's prison homicide rate is nearly 8 times the national average with vacancy rates exceeding 50% statewide, over 70% at some facilities
2. Hays State Prison houses ~1,650 people including ~750 Level II mental health patients in conditions the DOJ called 'woefully understaffed'
3. In 2023, Hays inmates Ryan Brandt and Kyle Oree were federally indicted as Sex Money Murder gang leaders for ordering violence via contraband phones from inside prison
4. Georgia's parole grants fell by nearly half between 2020-2024 even as deaths and violence soared
5. Prisoners across Georgia report losing 30-50 pounds from meals described as 'one or two slices of bologna and cold grits'

Quotables

People are assaulted, stabbed, raped and killed or left to languish inside facilities that are woefully understaffed

Georgia fails to protect incarcerated people from harm and is deliberately indifferent to the risk of serious injury and death

What’s New

• State calls the $24M Hays unit 'swing space' but it's designed for 30-year lifespan, revealing permanent expansion of high-security capacity
• Investigation links widespread prisoner malnutrition to increased violence, showing how construction spending ignores cheaper solutions

Accountability

Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver, Governor Brian Kemp's office, and the Georgia State Parole Board for reducing releases while violence escalated

Reporting Leads

1. Request GDC nutrition budgets and weight loss incident reports from Rogers, Wheeler, and Smith State Prisons
2. Interview families of Hays inmates about food conditions and medical neglect since 2020
3. FOIA requests for Hays staffing logs showing single-officer coverage of multiple buildings at night

Related Assets

• DOJ Findings Report
• Gov. Kemp Prison Spending Announcement
• Hays Construction Details