LEE STATE PRISON
Facility Information
- Original Design Capacity
- 640 (at 118% capacity)
- Bed Capacity
- 762 beds
- Current Population
- 755
- Active Lifers
- 25 (3.3% of population) · May 2026 GDC report
Read: Brown v. Plata - A Legal Roadmap for Georgia's Prison Crisis →
- Address
- 153 Pinewood Drive, Leesburg, GA 31763
- County
- Lee County
- Opened
- 1979
- Operator
- GDC (Georgia Dept. of Corrections)
- Warden
- Letitia Burks
- Phone
- (229) 759-3110
- Fax
- (229) 759-3065
- Staff
- Deputy Warden Security: Martin Jones
- Deputy Warden C&T: Willether Brown
- Deputy Warden Admin: Matasha Cook
About
Lee State Prison is a medium-security men's facility in Georgia's Department of Corrections system, housing 744 inmates as of October 2025 and classified at medium security with minimal close-security population. While no major incidents have been confirmed as originating specifically at Lee State Prison in recent reporting, the facility was placed on lockdown during the April 1, 2026 statewide gang violence emergency — part of a systemic crisis that consultants hired by Governor Kemp have described as prisons where gangs are 'effectively running the facilities.' Lee State Prison operates within a GDC system that GPS independently tracks as having recorded 1,795 deaths since 2020.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 1 (facility lead) | Burks, Letetia Shanta | 2025-01-01 | 1 / 11 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Brown, Willether | 2025-01-01 | 4 / 4 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Jones, Martin A | 2025-01-01 | 3 / 3 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Cook, Matasha L | 2025-01-01 | 3 / 3 |
Key Facts
- 744 Total inmates at Lee State Prison as of October 2025 (72 minimum, 667 medium, 5 close security)
- April 1, 2026 Lee State Prison placed on lockdown during statewide gang violence emergency affecting all GDC facilities
- 1,795 Total deaths tracked by GPS across GDC system since 2020, including 301 in 2025 and 95 in early 2026
- ~$20M Georgia paid nearly $20 million since 2018 to settle claims involving death or injury to state prisoners system-wide
- 31% Share of GDC incarcerated population validated as gang-affiliated — more than double the national average of ~13%
- 2,481 Inmates in jail backlog awaiting transfer into GDC facilities as of May 1, 2026
By the Numbers
- 1,797 Total Deaths Tracked by GPS
- 51 Confirmed Homicides in 2025
- 1,243 Poorly Controlled Health Conditions
- 13,057 Close Security (24.38%)
- 5,163 Drug Admissions (2025)
- 8,108 In Private Prisons
Mortality Statistics
6 deaths documented at this facility from 2020 to present.
Deaths by Year
- 2026: 0
- 2025: 1
- 2024: 2
- 2023: 0
- 2022: 0
- 2021: 1
- 2020: 2
County Public Health Department
Food service and sanitation at LEE STATE PRISON fall under the jurisdiction of the Lee 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
- William Collins
- Address
-
112 Park St.
Leesburg, GA 31763 - Phone
- (229) 759-3016
- William.Collins@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 LEE STATE PRISON
Dear William Collins,
I am writing to respectfully request that your office conduct a thorough, unannounced inspection of food service and sanitation practices at LEE STATE PRISON, located in Lee 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
Georgia Department of Public Health
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”
Recent inspections
| Date | Score | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 6, 2026 | 100 | Routine | |
| Jul 21, 2025 | 100 | Routine | |
| Jan 14, 2025 | 100 | Routine | |
| Jul 17, 2024 | 100 | Routine | |
| Jan 16, 2024 | 100 | Routine | |
| Jul 14, 2023 | 90 | Routine |
January 6, 2026 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: Ken Collins
No violations recorded for this inspection.
July 21, 2025 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: Ken Collins
No violations recorded for this inspection.
January 14, 2025 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: Ken Collins
No violations recorded for this inspection.
July 17, 2024 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: Ken Collins
No violations recorded for this inspection.
January 16, 2024 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: Ken Collins
No violations recorded for this inspection.
July 14, 2023 — Score 90
Routine · Inspector: Ken Collins
| Code | Violation | Pts | Inspector notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1A |
proper cold holding temperatures 511-6-1.04(6)(f) - time/temperature control for safety; cold holding (p) Corrected | 9 | Observed sliced cheese at 55 degrees F in walk-in cooler. Manager corrected violation by moving cheese to another walkin cooler unit. |
| 17C |
physical facilities installed, maintained, and clean 511-6-1.07(5)(a),(b) - good repair, physical facilities maintained; cleaning, frequency & restrictions, cleaned often enough to keep them clean (c) | 1 | Observed several cracked/damaged floor tiles/missing grout in food preparation areas. |
No public claims yet meet the synthesis threshold for this topic. The intelligence team is reviewing source records.
Note: The evidence items provided reference Wilcox State Prison and Lee Arrendale State Prison, neither of which is Lee State Prison. No claims in the input pertain to this facility.
Source Articles (10)
Former leadership
Officials who previously held leadership roles at this facility.
| Role | Name | Tenure | Deaths this facility / career |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warden (facility lead) | Spann, James Clarence | 2023-09-01 → 2024-12-31 | 2 / 44 |
| WARDEN 1 (facility lead) | Spann, James Clarence | 2023-01-01 → 2023-08-31 | 2 / 44 |
| WARDEN 1 (facility lead) | Flowers, Karen Douglas | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 | 3 / 11 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Brown, Willether | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | 4 / 4 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Jones, Martin A | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | 3 / 3 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Cook, Matasha L | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | 3 / 3 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Jones, Martin A | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | 3 / 3 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Brown, Willether | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | 4 / 4 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Brown, Willether | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 | 4 / 4 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Brown, Willether | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 | 4 / 4 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Flowers, Karen Douglas | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 | 3 / 11 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Flowers, Karen Douglas | 2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | 3 / 11 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | White, Jermaine M | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | — / 19 |
| Chief of Security (specialty lead) | Flowers, Karen Douglas | 2006-01-01 → 2006-12-31 | 3 / 11 |
Location
Aerial View
Architecture documents what the building was designed to hold. See the system-wide receipts at gps.press/warehouse.