AUGUSTA TRANSITIONAL CENTER
Facility Information
- Current Population
- 228
- Active Lifers
- 17 (7.5% of population) · May 2026 GDC report
- Address
- 601 Taylor Street, Augusta, GA 30901
- County
- Richmond County
- Operator
- GDC (Georgia Dept. of Corrections)
- Warden
- Eugenia Harrison
- Phone
- (706) 721-1650
- Fax
- (706) 721-1798
- Staff
- Assistant Superintendent: Tamikia Mahoney
- Chief of Security: Stacy Leslie
About
Augusta Transitional Center operates within a Georgia Department of Corrections system that GPS independently tracks as having recorded 1,795 deaths statewide between 2020 and May 2026, with cause-of-death data withheld by the GDC and reconstructed through GPS's own investigative reporting. The facility functions within a broader institutional context defined by documented staff corruption, endemic contraband networks, and classification drift — where facilities routinely house inmates at higher security levels than their formal designation. Available source material does not contain facility-specific incident, lawsuit, or death data for Augusta Transitional Center at this time; this page will be updated as GPS's investigation expands.
Leadership & Accountability (as of 2025 records)
Officials currently holding positional authority at this facility, with deaths attributed to GPS-tracked records during their leadership tenure. Inclusion reflects role-based accountability, not legal findings of personal culpability. Death counts shown as facility / career.
| Role | Name | Since | Deaths this facility / career |
|---|---|---|---|
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT (facility lead) | Harrison, Eugenia Darlene | 2025-01-01 | — / — |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Mahoney, Tamikia Nicole | 2025-01-01 | — / 26 |
| Assistant Superintendent (facility deputy) | Cliett, Asia Deon | 2024-10-16 | — / — |
Key Facts
- 1,795 Total deaths tracked by GPS across GDC facilities, 2020–May 2026 (GDC does not release cause-of-death data)
- 95 GPS-tracked GDC deaths in 2026 as of May 5, including 27 confirmed homicides
- ~$20M Georgia has paid nearly $20 million since 2018 to settle claims involving GDC prisoner deaths and injuries
- 425+ GDC employees arrested since 2018 for on-the-job crimes, at least 360 involving contraband, per AJC investigation
- 2,481 Individuals backlogged in county jails awaiting GDC placement as of May 1, 2026 — sustaining system-wide overcrowding pressure
By the Numbers
- 29 Confirmed Homicides in 2026
- 97 Deaths in 2026 (GPS tracked)
- 45 In Mental Health Crisis
- 2,530 Waiting in Jail (Backlog)
- 40.99 Average Inmate Age
- 24 Lawsuits Tracked
Mortality Statistics
1 deaths documented at this facility from 2020 to present.
Deaths by Year
- 2026: 0
- 2025: 0
- 2024: 1
- 2023: 0
- 2022: 0
- 2021: 0
- 2020: 0
County Public Health Department
Food service and sanitation at AUGUSTA TRANSITIONAL CENTER fall under the jurisdiction of the Richmond County Environmental Health Department. Incarcerated people cannot choose where they eat — public health inspectors carry an elevated responsibility to hold this kitchen to the same standards applied to any restaurant.
Contact
- Title
- EH Specialist
- Name
- Derek Buzhardt
- Address
-
1916 North Leg Road, Bldg K
Augusta, GA 30909 - Phone
- (706) 667-4234
- Derek.Buzhardt@dph.ga.gov
- Website
- Visit department website →
Why this matters
GPS has documented black mold on chow-hall ceilings, cold and contaminated trays, spoiled milk, and pest contamination at Georgia prisons. The Department of Justice's 2024 report confirmed deaths from dehydration and untreated diabetes tied to food and water deprivation. Advance-notice inspections let facilities stage temporary fixes that disappear once inspectors leave.
Unannounced inspections by the county health department are one of the few outside checks on kitchen conditions behind the fence.
How you can help
Write to the county inspector and request an unannounced inspection of the kitchen and food service operation at this facility. A short, respectful letter citing Georgia food-safety regulations is more powerful than you think — inspectors respond to public concern.
Sample Letter
This is the letter Georgia Prisoners' Speak mailed to all county environmental health inspectors responsible for GDC facilities. Feel free to adapt it.
May 16, 2026
RE: Request for Unannounced Public Health Inspection of Food Service Operations at AUGUSTA TRANSITIONAL CENTER
Dear Derek Buzhardt,
I am writing to respectfully request that your office conduct a thorough, unannounced inspection of food service and sanitation practices at AUGUSTA TRANSITIONAL CENTER, located in Richmond County.
Documented concerns
Georgia Prisoners' Speak, a nonprofit public advocacy organization, has published extensive investigative reporting on food safety and nutrition failures across Georgia's prison system, including:
- Dangerous sanitation conditions — black mold on chow hall ceilings and air vents, contaminated food trays, and spoiled milk served to inmates.
- Severe nutritional deficiency — roughly 60 cents per meal; inmates receive only 40% of required protein and less than one serving of vegetables per day.
- Preventable deaths — the U.S. Department of Justice's 2024 report confirmed deaths from dehydration, renal failure, and untreated diabetes following food and water deprivation.
- Staged compliance — advance-notice inspections allow facilities to stage temporary improvements, then revert once inspectors leave.
Firsthand testimony
In Surviving on Scraps: Ten Years of Prison Food in Georgia, a person who has spent more than ten years in GDC custody describes no functional dishwashing sanitation, chronic mold on food trays, and roaches found on the undersides of trays at intake facilities. Full account: gps.press/surviving-on-scraps-ten-years-of-prison-food-in-georgia.
Specific requests
- Conduct an unannounced inspection of the kitchen and food service operations at this facility, with particular attention to dishwashing equipment, tray sanitation procedures, and food storage conditions.
- Evaluate compliance with applicable Georgia food safety regulations, including O.C.G.A. § 26-2-370 and the Georgia Food Service Rules and Regulations (Chapter 511-6-1).
- Verify permit status and confirm whether the facility is subject to the same inspection schedule as other institutional food service establishments in the county.
- Make inspection results available to the public, as permitted under Georgia's Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70).
Incarcerated individuals cannot advocate for their own health and safety in the way a restaurant patron can — they cannot choose to eat elsewhere. This places an elevated responsibility on public health officials to ensure these facilities meet the same sanitation standards applied to any food service establishment.
Thank you for your attention to this important public health matter.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Food Safety Inspections
No inspection records are on file with the Georgia Department of Public Health for this facility. GPS has filed an open records request asking where these records are maintained.
What the score doesn't measure. DPH grades kitchen compliance on inspection day — food storage, temperatures, pest control. It does not grade whether today's trays are clean. GPS reporting has found broken dishwashers at most Georgia state prisons we've documented; trays go out wet, stacked, and visibly moldy — including at facilities with recent scores near 100.
Who inspects. Most Georgia state prisons sit in rural counties — often with fewer than 20,000 people, several with fewer than 10,000. The environmental health inspector lives in that community and often knows the kitchen staff personally. Rural inspection regimes don't have the structural independence you'd expect in a city-sized health department. Read the scores accordingly.
Read the investigation: “Dunked, Stacked and Served: Why Georgia Prison Trays Are Making People Sick”
Facility Overview and Classification Context
Augusta Transitional Center is a Georgia Department of Corrections facility operating within the GDC's broader network of state prisons and transitional centers. As a transitional facility, it is nominally designed to serve individuals moving toward community reintegration — a function that exists in tension with the documented realities of GDC operations statewide.
As of October 27, 2025, GDC facility population data reviewed by GPS shows a system-wide pattern of classification drift, in which facilities formally designated at lower security levels are housing significant numbers of Close Security inmates without the staffing infrastructure or oversight those populations require. Augusta State Medical Prison — a separate facility in Augusta classified as Close Security / Special Mission — held 531 Close Security inmates out of a total population of 1,176 as of that date, illustrating the complexity of the Augusta-area correctional footprint. GPS will separately document Augusta State Medical Prison; Augusta Transitional Center's specific population breakdown has not yet been independently verified by GPS at the facility level.
The GDC's statewide population stood at 52,912 as of May 1, 2026, with an additional 2,481 individuals waiting in county jails for GDC bed space — a backlog that has persisted across all 12 weeks of available weekly reporting, ranging from 2,277 to 2,481. This sustained overcrowding pressure affects the conditions and classification decisions at every GDC facility, including transitional centers.
Statewide Mortality Context (GPS-Tracked)
GPS independently tracks deaths across all GDC facilities. The GDC does not publicly release cause-of-death information; all classifications in the GPS database reflect independent investigation, family accounts, news reporting, and public records — not GDC disclosure. Deaths classified as 'Unknown/Pending' reflect the limits of GPS's current investigative reach, not the absence of suspicious or violent circumstances.
Across the GDC system, GPS has documented 1,795 total deaths between 2020 and May 5, 2026. Annual totals show a system in sustained crisis: 293 deaths in 2020, 257 in 2021, 254 in 2022, 262 in 2023, 333 in 2024 — the highest single-year total in the database — and 301 in 2025. As of May 5, 2026, GPS has already recorded 95 deaths in the first months of the year alone, including 27 confirmed homicides. The true homicide count across all years is significantly higher than confirmed figures; the large 'Unknown/Pending' category in every year reflects cases GPS has not yet been able to independently resolve.
No deaths have been specifically attributed to Augusta Transitional Center in GPS's current database. As GPS's investigative capacity expands, this page will be updated with facility-specific mortality data if and when it becomes available.
Staff Corruption and Contraband Networks
A September 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation documented the scale of employee-driven contraband corruption across the GDC system — a pattern with direct relevance to every facility in the network, including transitional centers. According to the AJC, GPS's review of that reporting identified more than 425 GDC employees arrested since 2018 for crimes committed on the job, with at least 360 of those arrests involving contraband. In an additional 25 cases, employees were terminated without arrest.
The AJC reported that prisoners have operated elaborate drug-trafficking networks, cybercrime schemes, and extortion enterprises — all enabled by contraband smuggled in by guards, nurses, cooks, and high-ranking officers. Some employees were paid thousands of dollars over schemes lasting months or years before detection. GDC Commissioner Tyrone Oliver, appointed in December 2022, acknowledged the problem but characterized the department's response as reactive: federal indictments in a multimillion-dollar contraband case at Smith State Prison described the GDC as trapped in a cycle of 'whack a mole,' according to the AJC's reporting.
Officially, GDC leadership has maintained that outside associates — not employees — are primarily responsible for contraband entering facilities. But the AJC's documented arrest record directly contradicts that framing. For a transitional center like Augusta, where incarcerated individuals are preparing for community release, the presence of active contraband and corruption networks poses specific risks: coercion, debt, and drug exposure during a critical reintegration window. GPS will continue to monitor Augusta Transitional Center specifically for staff accountability actions and contraband-related incidents.
Legal Accountability and Settlement Record
GPS has verified that Georgia has paid nearly $20 million since 2018 to settle claims involving death or injury to state prisoners — a figure covering the GDC system broadly and documented through independent news reporting. This settlement total reflects a pattern of state liability for conditions, violence, and neglect across GDC facilities, but GPS has not yet identified specific lawsuits or settlements directly attributable to Augusta Transitional Center.
The statewide settlement record should be understood as a floor, not a ceiling: it reflects only cases that reached resolution and were reported. Cases that were dismissed, are pending, or were settled under non-disclosure terms are not captured in that figure. GPS will document Augusta Transitional Center-specific legal actions as they are identified through court records, family reports, and public filings.
The GDC's statewide population includes 6 individuals with terminal illness, 1,243 with poorly controlled health conditions, and 45 in mental health crisis as of May 1, 2026 — populations whose needs intersect directly with the quality of transitional programming and medical oversight at facilities like Augusta. These figures represent system-wide counts, not facility-specific breakdowns.
Investigative Status and Information Gaps
GPS's current source base for Augusta Transitional Center does not yet include facility-specific incident reports, named lawsuits, confirmed deaths, or firsthand accounts from incarcerated people or their families. The four source articles available for this page address statewide mortality data, GDC facility classifications, staff corruption across the system, and navigational resources — none containing Augusta Transitional Center-specific events.
This page reflects the limits of current documentation, not the absence of problems. GPS's experience across every GDC facility it has investigated is that conditions, deaths, and accountability failures are systematically underreported — by the GDC, by local media, and in public records. The facility's transitional designation may reduce its visibility in incident reporting while not necessarily reducing the risks faced by people incarcerated there.
GPS is actively seeking accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated people at Augusta Transitional Center, their families, and any current or former staff with knowledge of conditions. If you have information about this facility, contact GPS through our secure reporting channel. All sources are protected.
Source Articles (4)
Former leadership
Officials who previously held leadership roles at this facility.
| Role | Name | Tenure | Deaths this facility / career |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Harrison, Eugenia Darlene | 2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | — / — |