Georgia’s Own Assessment Confirms System-Wide Crisis: 20 Prisons Unsafe, 82.7% Staff Turnover in First Year

Why This Research Matters for Advocacy

This is not a report from an outside watchdog or an advocacy organization. This is Georgia’s own assessment — commissioned by Governor Brian P. Kemp and conducted by Guidehouse, Inc., The Moss Group, and CGL Companies — confirming what incarcerated people and their families have been saying for years: Georgia’s prison system is in crisis.

The December 2024 System-Wide Assessment of the Georgia Department of Corrections documents emergency-level conditions across 20 state prisons, a workforce hemorrhaging 82.7% of correctional officers within their first year, infrastructure so degraded that 25 of 26 facility categories score between “fair” and “poor,” and a 38% decline in parole releases since 2019. These are not allegations — they are findings from the state’s own consultants.

For advocates, this document is a powerful tool because it cannot be dismissed as biased or adversarial. When the state itself acknowledges that 20 facilities “are currently unable to maintain safe and secure operations,” that finding carries enormous weight in legislative testimony, media coverage, legal proceedings, and public discourse.

This assessment arrives at a critical moment. Georgia is spending $436.7 million on a new prison facility while the existing system crumbles around the approximately 49,000 people it confines. The state manages this population with just 6,400 employees — down from 10,411 in FY2012. The math of human suffering is straightforward: fewer staff, deteriorating facilities, and fewer pathways to release equal more danger, more isolation, and more harm for the people trapped inside.

Advocates should use this document to demand accountability, push for legislative action, and challenge any narrative that Georgia’s prison system is functioning acceptably.

Key Takeaway: Georgia’s own state-commissioned assessment confirms a system-wide crisis affecting safety, staffing, infrastructure, and release pathways across the prison system.

Talking Points

1. Georgia’s own consultants found that 20 state prisons have reached “emergency-level” vacancy rates and “are currently unable to maintain safe and secure operations.” This is not an advocacy claim — it is the state’s own finding. (Page 41)

2. 82.7% of correctional officers leave within their first year of employment. From January 2021 through November 2024, this mass exodus left 2,637 positions vacant, creating dangerous understaffing that puts both incarcerated people and remaining staff at risk. (Page 34)

3. Georgia’s prison infrastructure is failing the people confined inside it. Twenty-five of 26 facility condition categories scored between “fair” and “poor,” with widespread lock failures that prevent the state from securing facilities, particularly during overnight hours. (Page 71)

4. Parole releases decreased 38% from 2019 to 2023, while the number of cases the Parole Board even reviewed also declined. People who could be safely released are instead trapped in deteriorating, understaffed facilities. (Page 60)

5. Georgia provides only 410 medical beds for approximately 49,000 incarcerated people — a ratio that forces heavy reliance on outside medical trips requiring two officers per person, further draining already depleted staff from facilities. (Page 43)

6. The state’s own classification tool — the system used to determine where people are placed and what programs they receive — is overdue for its required five-year revalidation. People may be held at inappropriate security levels or denied needed programs because of an outdated assessment system. (Page 62)

7. The state spent $436.7 million on a new prison facility while its capital improvement budget had dropped to just $2.5 million in FY19, leaving existing facilities in dangerous disrepair. Building new cages while existing ones crumble is not a solution — it is a choice that reflects misplaced priorities. (Pages 17-18)

8. People entering Georgia’s prisons lack basic educational support, with average math scores at a 6.5 grade level for Black individuals, 5.9 for Hispanic individuals, and 7.5 for White individuals — yet teacher vacancy rates stand at 57% and counselor vacancies at 35%. The state fails to provide the very programming it acknowledges people need. (Pages 14, referenced in relationships)

Important Quotes

These quotes are extracted directly from the source document and can be cited in testimony, letters, and media communications.

“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.”
— Page 41

“From January 2021 through November 2024, 82.7% of COs left employment during their first year.”
— Page 34

“Twenty-five of the 26 categories scored between a ‘fair and poor’ score, with 11 of the categories scored 3.5 or above.”
— Page 71 (referring to facility condition assessments)

“From 2019 to 2023, there was a 38% decrease in offenders being released by parole.”
— Page 60

“GDC currently has 410 medical beds available inside state facilities for approximately 49,000 offenders.”
— Page 43

“The data indicates a consistent increase in the STG population within GDC, rising from approximately 7,500 in 2014 to 14,800 by 2023.”
— Page 15

“As of 11/01/2024, 33.4% of GDC’s total State Prison population (34,901) identified as STG.”
— Page 15

“Most offenders 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.”
— Page 43

Key Takeaway: The state’s own consultants describe conditions in language that confirms years of advocacy: emergency-level vacancies, inability to maintain safe operations, and failing infrastructure.

How to Use This in Your Advocacy

Legislative Testimony

This assessment is a gift to legislative advocates because the state commissioned it and the state’s own consultants produced it. When testifying before the Georgia General Assembly or relevant committees:

• Lead with the fact that this is not an advocacy document — it is the state’s own assessment confirming a crisis.
• Quote directly from the finding that 20 prisons “are currently unable to maintain safe and secure operations” (Page 41). Ask legislators: What does it mean for the people confined in those 20 facilities?
• Connect the 82.7% first-year correctional officer attrition rate to the lived experiences of incarcerated people: when facilities are understaffed, people are locked in cells for longer periods, medical appointments are missed, programs are cancelled, and violence increases.
• Challenge the $436.7 million new prison investment by asking whether that money would be better spent addressing the 38% decline in parole releases and expanding reentry programming.
• Cite the 410 medical beds for 49,000 people as evidence that the state is failing its duty of care.

Public Comment

During public comment periods on corrections budgets, facility proposals, or sentencing reforms:

• Emphasize that the state’s own assessment identifies infrastructure failure as a security and safety crisis — not a future risk, but a present emergency.
• Note that capital improvement budgets dropped to $2.5 million in FY19, demonstrating years of deliberate disinvestment in the facilities where people live.
• Highlight the 38% decrease in parole releases as evidence that the state is keeping people confined longer in conditions it acknowledges are unsafe.

Media Pitches

Reporters need angles. Here are the strongest:

• “Georgia’s Own Report Card”: The state paid consultants to assess its prison system. The result: 20 of its prisons cannot maintain safe operations, and more than 4 out of 5 new officers quit within a year.
• “The Staffing Death Spiral”: 82.7% first-year attrition creates a cycle — understaffing leads to dangerous conditions, dangerous conditions drive more staff away, and people inside bear the consequences.
• “410 Beds for 49,000 People”: Georgia provides roughly one medical bed for every 120 incarcerated people, forcing thousands of outside medical trips that further drain already depleted staff.
• “Parole in Decline”: While Georgia’s prisons crumble, the Parole Board has cut releases by 38% in four years. People who could be safely released remain in facilities the state admits are unsafe.

Coalition Building

This assessment provides common ground for diverse stakeholders:

• Correctional officer unions and staff advocates share concerns about the staffing crisis — 82.7% attrition and “constant fear and fatigue” affect them directly.
• Public health organizations should be alarmed by 410 medical beds for 49,000 people, plus 6,907 hospital day trips and 21,161 accumulated days of overnight hospital stays in CY23.
• Education advocates can point to the finding that most people entering Georgia’s prisons lack high school-level proficiency, while teacher vacancy rates reach 57%.
• Fiscal conservatives should question spending $436.7 million on new construction while existing facilities score “fair to poor” across 25 of 26 categories.
• Reentry and parole advocates can use the 38% decline in parole releases to argue for Parole Board reform.

Written Communications

In letters to the Governor, legislators, the GDC Commissioner, and the Parole Board:

• Always cite the document by its full name: System-Wide Assessment of the Georgia Department of Corrections, December 13, 2024, conducted by Guidehouse, Inc., The Moss Group, and CGL Companies.
• Use the phrase “the state’s own assessment” repeatedly — this frames every finding as the government’s own admission.
• Include specific page references for every claim to demonstrate rigor and credibility.
• Close with a clear demand: whether it is increased parole releases, emergency staffing funding, infrastructure investment, or independent oversight.

Key Takeaway: This state-commissioned report gives advocates unimpeachable evidence to use across every advocacy context — the state cannot dismiss its own findings.

Use Impact Justice AI

Need help turning these findings into action? Impact Justice AI can help you:

• Draft legislative testimony using the data and quotes from this assessment
• Write letters to legislators demanding accountability for the conditions documented in this report
• Compose emails to the Governor’s office citing the state’s own findings
• Generate public comment submissions for budget hearings and policy reviews
• Create media pitches with the most compelling statistics and quotes
• Build coalition communications that connect this assessment to your specific advocacy goals

Visit https://impactjustice.ai to generate advocacy materials using this research and other GPS data. The tool is designed to help you move from information to action quickly and effectively.

Key Takeaway: Impact Justice AI at impactjustice.ai can help advocates generate letters, testimony, and other materials using findings from this assessment.

Key Statistics

Use these statistics in testimony, letters, and communications. Each is sourced directly from the state’s assessment.

Key Takeaway: The state’s own data documents a system failing on every measurable dimension: staffing, infrastructure, medical care, educational programming, and release pathways.

Read the Source Document

📄 Read the full System-Wide Assessment of the Georgia Department of Corrections (PDF)

This 245-page assessment was published December 13, 2024, and was conducted by Guidehouse, Inc., The Moss Group, and CGL Companies at the direction of Governor Brian P. Kemp and the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Other Versions

This explainer is written for reform advocates and organizers. Other versions are available for different audiences:

• 📋 Public Version — For community members and families
• 🏛️ Legislator Version — For elected officials and policy staff
• 📰 Media Version — For journalists and editorial boards