# Eight Questions for the Next Governor > On July 25 we sent the same eight questions on Georgia's prison crisis to both nominees for governor. One campaign answered all eight in writing. The other has not responded. We publish the answers we received, without endorsement, and the same offer stands. **Published**: 2026-08-08 **Source**: https://gps.press/eight-questions-for-the-next-governor/ **Author**: Leo Alexander --- On July 25, Georgia Prisoners' Speak sent the same eight questions to both candidates for governor. The questions covered the Department of Justice's findings about Georgia's prisons, independent oversight, the reporting of deaths in custody, prison construction, staffing vacancies, parole for the aging and the dying, reentry, and the legislative package we have asked the 2027 General Assembly to take up. Both campaigns received the identical document on the same day. On August 8, the campaign of Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms returned written answers to all eight. The campaign of Republican nominee Rick Jackson has not responded. We publish her answers here as we received them, without endorsement. Georgia Prisoners' Speak is a 501(c)(3) organization. We do not support or oppose candidates for public office, and nothing in this article should be read as doing so. The same questions, the same space, and the same treatment remain available to the Jackson campaign, and we will publish those answers in full if they arrive. ## What she committed to Two answers were unconditional. On the Justice Department's findings — the October 1, 2024 report concluding that conditions in Georgia's prisons violate the Eighth Amendment ((U.S. Department of Justice, Investigation of Georgia Prisons, October 1 2024, [https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1371406/dl](https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1371406/dl) )) — the response was direct: > "As governor, I will negotiate a consent agreement rather than spend years and taxpayer dollars in court. I will also enforce basic health and living standards and expand programming to reduce violence in Georgia's prisons." The second was on the reporting of deaths. Asked whether she would require the Department of Corrections to publish the cause and manner of every death in custody, the answer was that she would. The rest were commitments of direction rather than mechanism. On independent oversight, the campaign said it would "work with legislators, corrections professionals, advocates, families, and other stakeholders to strengthen independent oversight" and "determine the most effective structure," and separately endorsed "a public complaint process or hotline so incarcerated people and their families have a clear, monitored way to report allegations of abuse, neglect, or unsafe conditions." Subpoena power, unannounced inspections and mandatory public reporting — the three specifics we asked about — were not addressed by name. On parole, the campaign said it would support expanded consideration for aging and medically frail prisoners "who no longer pose a threat to public safety, evaluated on a case-by-case basis and paired with a real reentry plan, not a release with nowhere to go." ## The question about the death figures One passage deserves care, because it concerns numbers this newsroom produced. The response states that more than 1,800 people have died in Georgia's prisons since 2020, and that roughly 1,500 of those deaths — nearly 83 percent — are recorded as "Unknown/Pending," with no public accounting of how the person died. Our own registry puts the uncaused share lower. As of August 8, 2026, we have independently tracked at least 1,859 deaths since 2020, and we can state a cause for roughly 1,140 of them ((GPS, The Empty Column: Georgia Won't Say How Prisoners Die, [https://gps.press/the-empty-column-georgia-wont-say-how-prisoners-die/](https://gps.press/the-empty-column-georgia-wont-say-how-prisoners-die/) )). That is not a correction, and it should not be read as one. It is the whole problem in one line. We should be precise about what our number does and does not prove. The Department of Corrections published mortality data before March 2024 that we do not hold, and our registry is not a complete record of everything the department has ever released. What we can say is what our own table shows: of the causes in it, GDC is the source for twelve, all of them deaths in January 2025, after which the field went blank again. Every other cause came from somewhere else. When we published a full accounting of our sources in July, medical examiners had supplied 481 of them, news reporting 145, county coroners 82, incarcerated people themselves 63, autopsy reports 28, and families four ((GPS, The Empty Column: Georgia Won't Say How Prisoners Die, [https://gps.press/the-empty-column-georgia-wont-say-how-prisoners-die/](https://gps.press/the-empty-column-georgia-wont-say-how-prisoners-die/) )). We have since established several hundred more, one records request at a time. So the gap between her figure and ours does not measure the state's transparency. It measures ours. The number moved because a newsroom did work the Department of Corrections is supposed to do and does not. There is a further problem, and it is not ours. The causes GDC did publish did not always match what the department already knew. The Justice Department examined GDC's mortality data directly: > "Notably, GDC's mortality data categorizes many deaths that obviously were homicides as having an unknown reason or unknown verified cause of death. According to GDC, this unknown category reflects deaths for which GDC has not yet received a copy of the death certificate to verify the cause of death. But deaths reported as unknown by GDC include deaths that GDC's own incident reports categorize as homicides, and which GDC says are being investigated as suspected homicides." The department's explanation is in that passage, and the Justice Department set it beside the department's own files rather than around it. The Department put a number on it. GDC's June 2024 mortality data reported six homicides for the first five months of that year, "even though at least 18 deaths were categorized as homicides in GDC incident reports." Two homicides from 2021 were still carried as "unknown." Federal investigators concluded that GDC "inaccurately reports these deaths both internally and externally, and in a manner that underreports the extent of violence and homicide in GDC prisons." So the missing column is not the only difficulty. **Where a cause was given, it did not always agree with the state's own files.** ## What the answers did not settle Two questions came back without a direct answer. We asked whether she would support building a new maximum-security prison or redirect that capital toward staffing, healthcare and rehabilitation. The response set out priorities — education, workforce development, reentry, remote coursework through the technical colleges, transition centers, job placement — without saying whether the prison should be built. We asked which parts of our 2027 legislative package she would sign or champion: habeas reform, conviction integrity, ineffective-assistance-of-counsel reform. The answer named none of the three. It went instead to where post-conviction petitions are heard: > "Currently, most post-conviction petitions are heard in the county where an inmate happens to be incarcerated, and that creates two serious problems. First, inmates are frequently transferred between correctional facilities, which delays proceedings, creates jurisdictional confusion, and can leave cases unresolved for years at a time. Second, many of our state prisons sit in smaller rural counties with limited judicial resources." That is a real defect and a live one. Chief Justice Nels Peterson raised the same venue problem before the House Study Committee on Criminal Post-Conviction Litigation on July 10, 2026. It is not, however, an answer to the three questions asked, and we note it as what it is. ## Why we asked at all The next governor inherits a prison system under federal investigation, with officer vacancy rates reported between 60 and 80 percent at several institutions, and with at least 1,859 people dead in custody since 2020. Whoever holds the office will decide whether Georgia settles with the Justice Department or litigates, whether an oversight body gets subpoena power or a suggestion box, and whether the families of the dead keep calling coroners one by one. None of this was built by the current commissioner, or by any one administration. The vacancies, the deadline, the missing column and the absence of any outside inspector were authored over decades by successive legislatures and successive governors of both parties, and every one of those choices remains a choice that can be unmade. Those decisions do not belong to a party. They belong to an office. That is why both nominees received the same eight questions on the same day, and why this page will carry the Jackson campaign's answers, in full and without comment, whenever the campaign chooses to send them. --- ## The questions and the answers, in full What follows is the complete text of the eight questions we sent both campaigns on July 25, 2026, and the complete written response returned by the Bottoms campaign on August 8. Nothing has been cut, condensed or reordered. Readers should not have to take our summary on trust. ### 1. DOJ FINDINGS. In October 2024 the U.S. Department of Justice found that conditions in Georgia's prisons violate the Eighth Amendment. Do you accept the findings? As Governor, would you negotiate a consent agreement or continue defending the case in court? Georgia’s prison crisis is a public safety crisis. We must improve conditions and create real change, for the safety of our correctional officers and those in custody. As governor, I will negotiate a consent agreement rather than spend years and taxpayer dollars in court. I will also enforce basic health and living standards and expand programming to reduce violence in Georgia’s prisons. ### 2. INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT. Would you create an independent oversight body with investigative authority over the Department of Corrections — subpoena power, unannounced inspections, and mandatory public reporting? Georgia needs stronger oversight of the Department of Corrections so that serious problems cannot be hidden, ignored, or allowed to continue without accountability. As governor, I will work with legislators, corrections professionals, advocates, families, and other stakeholders to strengthen independent oversight of the Department and determine the most effective structure for ensuring meaningful accountability and transparency. That should include stronger mechanisms for independent review of Department policies, procedures, facilities, and personnel, as well as the ability to identify problems and require timely corrective action. I also support establishing a public complaint process or hotline so incarcerated people and their families have a clear, monitored way to report allegations of abuse, neglect, or unsafe conditions. Any strengthened oversight system should include clear standards for corrective action, public reporting where appropriate, and a process for elevating serious or unresolved problems to the Governor’s office and other appropriate state officials. My priority is making sure Georgia has an oversight structure with enough independence, transparency, and authority to identify problems and ensure the problems are addressed. ### 3. MORTALITY TRANSPARENCY. GDC no longer releases the cause of death when someone dies in custody; families must piece it together from county coroners. Would you require GDC to publish the cause and manner of every in-custody death? More than 1,800 people have died in Georgia's prisons since 2020, and roughly 1,500 of those deaths, nearly 83 percent, are labeled as, "Unknown/Pending," with no public accounting of how they actually died. This lack of transparency leaves grieving families with the unnecessary burden of seeking answers. Families are left calling county coroners' offices on their own, one by one, piecing together the truth about how their loved one died. Georgia law requires every in-custody death to go through a county coroner or medical examiner for a cause-of-death determination, and requires that finding to be forwarded to the Commissioner of Corrections. As governor, I will require the Georgia Department of Corrections to be transparent by publishing the cause and manner of every in-custody death as a matter of routine public reporting. ### 4. CAPACITY VS. PROGRAMMING. Would you support building a new maximum-security prison, or redirect that capital toward staffing, healthcare, and rehabilitation? As governor, my priorities will be focusing on education, workforce development, and reentry policies that reduce crime, lower recidivism, and safely decrease our prison population. I will partner with Georgia's technical colleges and public universities to bring remote education, career training, and industry-recognized credentials into Georgia prisons, so that people leave with the skills to actually build a life on the outside. I will expand opportunities for reentry by reserving appropriate state government positions for qualified returning citizens and encouraging private employers to do the same through targeted state job tax credits because employment upon release is one of the strongest predictors of reducing recidivism. Additionally, I will strengthen Georgia's transition centers and ensure efficient job placement, housing assistance, counseling, and case management, both before and after release. My administration will ensure substance use treatment, mental health services, and workforce apprenticeships are rapidly available to reentering persons. Every person Georgia successfully prepares to reenter our communities as a working, contributing citizen is a person who does not return to our prison system, and that is how we make Georgia safer. ### 5. STAFFING. Several GDC prisons report 60–80% officer vacancy rates. What is your plan to recruit and retain correctional staff? Prioritizing staffing and safety in Georgia’s prison system should be a priority. Retaining officers is directly related to safer prisons both for staff and for those serving their sentences. As governor, I will prioritize recruiting and retaining experienced corrections officers. I will also fast-track the recruitment of officers from aligned professions like law enforcement professionals and veterans, and I will provide the additional training our prison personnel have gone without for far too long. And I will ensure correctional officers receive modern equipment and the staffing support they need to do their jobs safely. ### 6. PAROLE & SENTENCING. Would you support expanded parole consideration for aging and medically frail prisoners, and broader earned-time credits? As governor, I will support expanded parole consideration for aging and medically frail prisoners who no longer pose a threat to public safety, evaluated on a case-by-case basis and paired with a real reentry plan, not a release with nowhere to go. ### 7. YOUR "PRISON-TO-WORK" PLANK. Your platform mentions a Prison-to-Work reentry initiative. What specifically would it fund, and does your reentry agenda extend to conditions inside the prisons themselves? As governor, I will focus on education, workforce development, and reentry policies that reduce crime, and lower recidivism. My reentry agenda extends to conditions inside the prisons. I will partner with Georgia's technical colleges and public universities to bring remote education, career training, and industry-recognized credentials into Georgia prisons. Eligible, nonviolent offenders will be able to earn sentence reductions through the successful completion of approved educational, vocational, and rehabilitation programs. Participants will also be required to commit to fulfilling their court-ordered restitution and child support obligations upon release and employment. I will also strengthen Georgia's transition centers and ensure efficiency of job placement, housing assistance, counseling, and case management, both before and after release. As governor, my administration will ensure substance use treatment, mental health services, and workforce apprenticeships are rapidly available to people leaving our state prisons. Every person Georgia successfully prepares to reenter our communities as a working, contributing citizen is a person who does not return to our prison system, and that is how we make Georgia safer. ### 8. VISION 2027. GPS's legislative package for the 2027 session covers habeas reform, conviction integrity, and ineffective-assistance-of-counsel reform. Which of these would you sign or champion? One area I would focus on as governor is fixing Georgia's post-conviction process - the process that begins after a defendant's direct appeal has been exhausted. Currently, most post-conviction petitions are heard in the county where an inmate happens to be incarcerated, and that creates two serious problems. First, inmates are frequently transferred between correctional facilities, which delays proceedings, creates jurisdictional confusion, and can leave cases unresolved for years at a time. Second, many of our state prisons sit in smaller rural counties with limited judicial resources - fewer superior court judges to hear cases. These courts often struggle to process post-conviction cases efficiently, leaving everyone involved stuck in unnecessary delay. As governor, I will work to improve Georgia’s post-conviction system so it is more consistent, efficient, and accessible statewide. That includes looking at ways to reduce the burden on rural courts, make better use of remote proceedings, and build greater expertise in post-conviction law. Georgians should have confidence that the process is fair and consistent, no matter where they live. --- ## Call to Action: What You Can Do Awareness without action changes nothing. Here's how you can help push for accountability and real reform: **Join the GPS Advocacy Network** — Sign up at [https://gps.press/become-an-advocate/](https://gps.press/become-an-advocate/) and we'll advocate on your behalf every week. GPS identifies your state legislators, crafts personalized letters on the most pressing prison issues, and sends them directly to the representatives who represent you. You receive a copy of every letter. It takes two minutes to sign up — we handle the rest. **Send a 60-Second Message** — Pick an issue, get a ready-to-edit message with the verified facts already in it, and email your state House representative and senator directly from your own inbox at [https://gps.press/send-a-message/.](https://gps.press/send-a-message/.) No signup, nothing stored — it takes about a minute. **Tell My Story** — Are you or a loved one affected by Georgia's prison system? GPS publishes first-person accounts at [https://gps.press/tellmystory.](https://gps.press/tellmystory.) Your account can be published anonymously. **Submit a Report** — If you have documentation of conditions, deaths, medical neglect or retaliation, send it to us at [https://gps.press/submit-a-report/.](https://gps.press/submit-a-report/.) We verify everything before we publish it. --- ## Further Reading - [The Deadline That Bars the Innocent](https://gps.press/vision2027/habeas-deadline/) - [Buried Alive: The Four-Year Deadline That Killed Habeas Corpus in Georgia](https://gps.press/buried-alive-the-four-year-deadline-that-killed-habeas-corpus-in-georgia/) - [Blackstone Is Dead: Georgia Abandoned American Justice](https://gps.press/blackstone-is-dead-georgia-abandoned-american-justice/) - [The Death of Habeas Corpus Is Killing Innocent People](https://gps.press/the-death-of-habeas-corpus-is-killing-innocent-people/) - [The Empty Column: Georgia Won't Say How Prisoners Die](https://gps.press/the-empty-column-georgia-wont-say-how-prisoners-die/) - [Vision 2027: Post-Conviction Justice Reform for the State of Georgia](https://gps.press/vision2027/) --- ## GPS Intelligence System - **Facility intelligence profiles** — conditions, leadership history and incident patterns for every state institution, at [https://gps.press/intelligence/](https://gps.press/intelligence/) - **Legislator scorecard** — how your representatives have voted on the bills that shape this system, at [https://gps.press/scorecard/](https://gps.press/scorecard/) --- ## Explore the Data - **GDC statistics** — population, staffing and facility data at [https://gps.press/gdc-statistics/](https://gps.press/gdc-statistics/) - **Post-conviction procedure in the fifty states** — how every other state handles the filing deadline Georgia imposed in 2004, at [https://gps.press/post-conviction-fifty-states/](https://gps.press/post-conviction-fifty-states/) --- ## About GPS Georgia Prisoners' Speak is the operating name of The GDC Accountability Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity documenting conditions, deaths and accountability failures in the Georgia Department of Corrections. We do not support or oppose any candidate for public office. ![GPS](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/gps-footer.png) ---