JOHNSON STATE PRISON
Facility Information
- Original Design Capacity
- 750 (at 208% capacity)
- Bed Capacity
- 1,612 beds
- Current Population
- 1,559
Why design capacity matters:
Adding beds to a prison does not increase medical facilities, educational programs, kitchen capacity, counseling services, or recreation areas. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Plata that severe overcrowding beyond design capacity violates the 8th Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
Read: Brown v. Plata - A Legal Roadmap for Georgia's Prison Crisis →
Read: Brown v. Plata - A Legal Roadmap for Georgia's Prison Crisis →
- Address
- 290 Donovan-Harrison Rd, Wrightsville, GA 31096
- Mailing Address
- P.O. Box 344, Wrightsville, GA 31096
- County
- Johnson County
- Opened
- 1992
- Operator
- GDC (Georgia Dept. of Corrections)
- Warden
- Kochelle Watson
- Phone
- (478) 864-4100
- Fax
- (478) 864-4104
- Staff
- Deputy Warden Security: Willie Carr
- Deputy Warden Security: Tiffany Sailem
- Deputy Warden C&T: Chabara Davis-Bragg
- Deputy Warden Admin: Ada Messer
About
Johnson State Prison in Wrightsville is a medium-security prison for adult male felons, constructed in 1991 and opened in 1992. The facility has 15 housing units, including general-population dorms, mental-health supportive-living units, and segregation. Johnson historically operated for a time as a juvenile boot camp before reverting to adult custody; today it provides labor details to local governments, along with standard education, counseling, and faith-based programs, but has seen rising violence and deaths in recent years.
Mortality Statistics
87 deaths documented at this facility from 2020 to present.
Deaths by Year
- 2026: 6
- 2025: 18
- 2024: 15
- 2023: 15
- 2022: 6
- 2021: 14
- 2020: 13