Why This Research Matters for Advocacy
This is the document Georgia’s prison system didn’t want to write — but had to. Commissioned by Governor Kemp and conducted by an independent consulting team (Guidehouse, The Moss Group, and CGL Companies), this system-wide assessment of the Georgia Department of Corrections lays bare what incarcerated people and their families have been saying for years: Georgia’s prisons are in crisis, and the state is responsible.
The assessment confirms emergency-level staffing vacancies at 20 state prisons, widespread infrastructure failure including broken locks that leave people trapped in facilities where the state cannot protect them, a sexual assault reporting system that substantiates only 7% of allegations, and a parole system that has reduced releases by 38% in four years. These are not the claims of advocates — they are the state’s own findings.
This document is a powerful advocacy tool because it comes from inside the system. When the state’s own consultants say that Security Threat Groups are “effectively running” some facilities, when they document that 82.7% of correctional officers quit within their first year, and when they confirm that 29 of 34 state prisons need “critical upgrades” — advocates have ironclad evidence to demand action.
This assessment arrives at a critical moment. Georgia legislators are preparing for the 2025 session. Capital improvement budgets are being debated. Parole board practices are under scrutiny. And people inside Georgia’s prisons continue to endure conditions that the state itself now admits are unsafe. Every advocate, every coalition, and every legislator needs to understand what this document reveals.
Key Takeaway: The state’s own independent assessment confirms what incarcerated people have been saying: Georgia’s prisons are in crisis due to emergency staffing shortages, broken infrastructure, inadequate PREA protections, and declining parole releases.
Talking Points
The state admits its prisons are unsafe. The independent assessment found that 20 GDC state prisons have correctional officer vacancy rates at “emergency levels” — meaning these facilities “are currently unable to maintain safe and secure operations.” The industry standard is a maximum 10% vacancy rate; assessed facilities had vacancy rates ranging from 10% to 69.9%.
Georgia cannot keep its own officers. 82.7% of correctional officers hired between January 2021 and November 2024 left within their first year. The state lost 2,772 staff between 2019 and 2023 while the incarcerated population remained largely stable — meaning fewer and fewer people are responsible for the safety of approximately 49,000 individuals.
Broken locks are leaving people in danger. The assessment team’s “primary concern” was the widespread failure of locking systems on cell doors. When the state cannot secure cells, people are exposed to violence, contraband trafficking, and gang activity — particularly dangerous when combined with severe staffing shortages.
Sexual assault protections are failing. Of 819 PREA allegations in FY2023, only 57 — just 7% — were substantiated. The assessment found that staff attitudes discourage reporting, advocates are fearful of entering facilities due to violence, and SANE/SAFE examiner access is inadequate. The report itself states that the actual number of incidents “may be higher” than reported.
The state is releasing fewer people on parole while conditions worsen. Parole releases dropped 38%, from 9,455 in FY2019 to 5,863 in FY2023. This decline contributes directly to population pressure inside facilities that the state acknowledges it cannot safely manage.
Education is collapsing inside Georgia’s prisons. After teacher salaries were cut by approximately $30,000 in 2019, teacher vacancy rates rose from 32% to 57%, and GED completions fell by 50% — denying people the education they need for successful reentry.
29 of 34 state prisons need “critical upgrades.” Years of flat and reduced capital improvement budgets — dropping to just $2.5 million in FY2019 — created an infrastructure crisis so severe that only 5 of 34 facilities even reach “marginal” condition.
Half the incarcerated population has no incentive to participate in programming. 24,966 people — 50.2% of the population — are ineligible for Performance Incentive Credit points due to their conviction type, creating a two-tier system that denies meaningful pathways to a significant portion of the population.
Key Takeaway: Eight data-backed talking points advocates can use verbatim in testimony, meetings, and communications.
Important Quotes
These quotes are extracted directly from the source document. Cite them by page number.
“The vacancy rates for correctional officers at 20 GDC state prisons have reached emergency levels. These facilities are currently unable to maintain safe and secure operations, and they cannot comply with established policies.”
— Pages 41-42“From January 2021 through November 2024, 82.7% of COs left employment during their first year.”
— Page 34, Appendix B.10“One of the main concerns of the assessment team was the widespread failure of locking systems on cell doors. The inability to secure offenders contributes to STG activity, contraband trafficking, and general safety concerns, especially in context of significant staffing shortages.”
— Pages 17-18“In some of the assessment sites, it was noted that STGs are effectively running the facilities.”
— Appendix C.6“The highlighted data may indicate the procedures put in place by GDC are not being fully utilized. Overall number of reports is low given the total number of the offender population (approximately 1.7%). Further, the low level of supervision due to staff vacancies, offenders leaving cells and units due to lock weaknesses, and other security issues, suggests that the number of incidents may be higher.”
— Pages 55-56 (regarding PREA reporting)“In general, fewer offenders are being released by Parole in recent years. From 2019 to 2023, there was a 38% decrease in offenders being released by parole.”
— Page 60“Most offenders [in] GDC facilities lack high school level academic proficiency in fundamental skills like reading, math, and spelling.”
— Page 14“Current GDC policy requires two correctional officers to escort each offender on an outside medical trip or hospital stay. The assessment team observed the impact of further reducing the number of staff available to work inside facilities, particularly during the evening shifts when medical trips left one or two correctional officers to manage the entire facility during overnight hours.”
— Page 43“Contraband is introduced using several methods, including drone drops, items thrown over perimeter fences, deliveries, facility mail, visitors, and staff members.”
— Pages 49-51“GDC’s staffing numbers decreased by 2,772 individuals between 2019 and 2023.”
— Page 9
Key Takeaway: Direct quotes from the state’s own assessment provide irrefutable evidence for advocacy arguments.
How to Use This in Your Advocacy
Legislative Testimony
This assessment is a gift to advocates testifying before Georgia legislative committees. Frame your testimony around a simple narrative: the state commissioned this study, and the state’s own findings confirm systemic failure.
- Open with the emergency staffing finding: 20 prisons at emergency vacancy levels, unable to maintain safe operations. This is not advocacy hyperbole — it is a direct quote from the report.
- Connect staffing to human cost: when one or two officers manage an entire facility overnight (p. 43), the state is failing its duty to protect the people in its custody.
- Use the 82.7% first-year attrition rate to argue that the problem is not recruitment — it is retention. The state pays entry-level COs $44,044 while State Patrol troopers start at $63,684. The salary gap drives attrition.
- Demand action on parole: the 38% decline in parole releases is contributing to population pressure inside facilities the state admits it cannot safely operate.
- Push for legislative modifications to allow all incarcerated people to earn Performance Incentive Credits — currently 50.2% are excluded.
Public Comment
For public comment periods related to corrections budgets, PREA compliance, or facility conditions:
- Lead with the infrastructure finding: 29 of 34 facilities need critical upgrades. Years of budget neglect — including a low of $2.5 million in FY2019 — created this crisis.
- Cite the PREA data: only 7% of sexual assault allegations were substantiated in FY2023, while 45% were deemed to have “not occurred.” The assessment itself states incidents “may be higher” than reported.
- Reference the 208,266 grievances filed from 2021 to October 2024, with staff negligence as the top category (10,344 grievances). This is the voice of incarcerated people documenting their own conditions.
Media Pitches
Reporters need angles. This assessment provides several:
- “The state’s own report says gangs are running Georgia prisons” — The assessment found that STGs represent 33.4% of the state prison population, and at some facilities, STGs are “effectively running the facilities.” Connect to the lock failures and staffing crisis.
- “82.7% of Georgia’s prison guards quit in their first year” — A retention crisis story with clear salary data: COs make $44,044 vs. $63,684 for State Patrol.
- “Georgia’s prisons have 410 medical beds for 49,000 people” — That’s 1 bed per 120 people. The medical transport burden (6,907 hospital day trips, 21,161 overnight stay days in 2023) further depletes staff.
- “Teacher pay cuts gutted prison education” — A ~$30,000 salary reduction led to a 57% teacher vacancy rate and 50% drop in GED completions.
- “Sexual assault reporting in Georgia prisons: 7% substantiation rate” — With barriers including staff attitudes, retaliation fears, and lack of forensic exam access.
Coalition Building
This assessment creates opportunities to build bridges across issue areas:
- Labor advocates: The workforce data (82.7% first-year attrition, non-competitive salaries, mandatory overtime due to vacancies) makes this a workers’ rights issue as well as a prisoner rights issue.
- Education advocates: The 57% teacher vacancy rate, 50% GED completion decline, and below-grade-level intake scores connect prison education to broader education funding fights.
- Public health advocates: 410 medical beds for 49,000 people, inadequate SANE/SAFE access, and the PREA reporting failures are public health crises.
- Fiscal responsibility advocates: The infrastructure deficit — from $2.5 million in FY2019 to $684.5 million needed in FY2024 — is a case study in how deferred maintenance creates fiscal catastrophe.
- Parole and sentencing reform advocates: The 38% decline in parole releases, combined with the finding that 50.2% of people are ineligible for sentence-reduction incentives, provides data to push for policy reform.
Written Communications
When writing letters to officials, op-eds, or policy briefs:
- Always cite the source: “According to the System-Wide Assessment of the Georgia Department of Corrections, published December 13, 2024…”
- Use specific page references for credibility.
- Pair statistics with human impact: “With 82.7% of new officers leaving within a year (p. 34), the people left inside these facilities face rotating, undertrained staff who cannot provide consistent supervision or build the relationships necessary for safe operations.”
- Close with specific policy demands tied to the assessment’s own recommendations: strategic planning, staffing analysis, classification system revalidation, and capital improvement investment.
Key Takeaway: Practical guidance for using this assessment in five distinct advocacy contexts, from legislative testimony to coalition building.
Use Impact Justice AI
Need to draft testimony, write a letter to your legislator, or prepare talking points for a coalition meeting? Impact Justice AI can help you generate advocacy materials using data from this assessment and other Georgia Prisoners’ Speak research.
Use Impact Justice AI to:
– Draft legislative testimony tailored to specific committee hearings
– Generate letters to elected officials citing specific findings from this assessment
– Create email campaigns for your organization’s members
– Prepare media pitches with data-driven story angles
– Build fact sheets for coalition partners
The tool draws on GPS’s extensive research library to ensure your advocacy materials are accurate, well-sourced, and powerful. Visit impactjustice.ai to get started.
Key Takeaway: Impact Justice AI at impactjustice.ai can help advocates generate letters, testimony, and other materials using this research.
Key Statistics
Staffing Crisis
– 6,400 total GDC employees managing approximately 49,000 incarcerated people (p. 5)
– 2,772 staff lost between FY2019 and FY2023 (p. 9)
– 82.7% of correctional officers leave within their first year (p. 34, Appendix B.10)
– 20 state prisons at emergency-level vacancy rates (pp. 41-42)
– 10% — the maximum acceptable vacancy rate per American Correctional Association standards; GDC facilities range from 10% to 69.9% (p. 41)
– $44,044 — entry salary for a GDC correctional officer in FY2025, compared to $63,684 for a Georgia State Patrol trooper (p. 32, Appendix B.2)
Safety and Security
– 33.4% of the state prison population (11,647 out of 34,901) identified as Security Threat Group members as of 11/01/2024 (pp. 15, 47)
– 819 PREA allegations in FY2023; only 57 (7%) substantiated; 369 (45%) deemed “not occurred” (pp. 55-56, Appendix C.12)
– 208,266 grievances filed from 2021 to October 2024, averaging approximately 52,000 per year (p. 57, Appendix C.13)
– 434 drone incidents in FY2024, up from 284 in FY2023 (p. 51)
– 443 facility-wide shakedowns in CY2023, up from 70 in CY2019 (p. 46, Appendix C.27)
Medical Care
– 410 medical beds for approximately 49,000 people — 1 bed per 120 individuals (p. 43, Appendix C.4)
– 6,907 hospital day trips, 9,739 routine medical trips, and 21,161 accumulated overnight hospital stay days in CY2023 (p. 43, Appendix C.3)
– Each medical transport requires 2 correctional officers per person — further depleting already critical staffing
Education
– 57% teacher vacancy rate in 2024, up from 32% in 2018 (p. 33, Appendix B.7)
– 50% decrease in GED completions from FY2019 to FY2023 (pp. 33, 64)
– Average reading level at intake: 9.9 grade equivalent; average math: 7.6 (p. 14, Appendix A.11)
Parole and Release
– 38% decrease in parole releases from FY2019 (9,455) to FY2023 (5,863) (p. 60, Appendix C.16)
– 24,966 people (50.2% of population) ineligible for Performance Incentive Credit points (p. 67, Appendix C.23)
– 15,731 people classified as “serious violent felony” offenders, ineligible for earned time or early release (p. 10, Appendix A.3)
Infrastructure
– 29 of 34 facilities rated as needing “critical upgrade” (p. 72, Appendix D.2)
– Capital improvement budget dropped to $2.5 million in FY2019 (p. 18, Appendix A.20)
– FY2024 capital outlay budget: $684,453,005 to begin addressing the backlog (p. 18, Appendix A.20)
– 1,333 triple bunk cells or triple bunks in open dorms across 10 state prisons (p. 74, Appendix D.5)
– 36% maintenance staff vacancy rate (p. 74, Appendix B.13)
Key Takeaway: Comprehensive data points organized by topic area, ready to copy-paste into testimony, letters, and advocacy materials.
Read the Source Document
Read the full System-Wide Assessment of the Georgia Department of Corrections (PDF)
Other Versions
This research is available in multiple formats for different audiences:
- Public Version — For community members, families, and the general public
- Legislator Version — For elected officials, legislative staff, and policy professionals
- Media Version — For journalists, editors, and newsrooms