LONG UNIT
Facility Information
- Bed Capacity
- 212 beds
- Current Population
- 213
- Active Lifers
- 18 (8.5% of population) · May 2026 GDC report
- Address
- 1434 US Hwy 84 East, Ludowici, GA 31316
- Mailing Address
- P.O. Box 70, Ludowici, GA 31316
- County
- Long County
- Opened
- 1975
- Operator
- GDC (Georgia Dept. of Corrections)
- Warden
- Jennifer Clark
- Phone
- (912) 545-3778
- Fax
- (912) 545-3776
- Staff
- Assistant Superintendent: Pamala Dennis
About
Long Unit is a Close Security Unit housed within Smith State Prison, currently holding 231 inmates as of October 2025, with 63 classified at minimum security, 168 at medium security, and none formally classified at close security despite its close-security designation. The unit's unusual classification profile — housing medium and minimum-security inmates inside a close-security structure — reflects the broader pattern of classification drift GPS has documented across Georgia's prison system. Public records and news reporting confirm that Long Unit has housed high-profile inmates including elderly and seriously ill individuals, raising questions about the appropriateness of conditions and programming at this specialized facility.
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 (facility lead) | Clark, Jennifer R | 2025-06-01 | — / — |
| CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT (facility deputy) | Dennis, Pamela | 2025-01-01 | 1 / 1 |
Key Facts
- 231 Total inmates at Long Unit as of October 2025 — 63 minimum, 168 medium, 0 close security, despite close-security designation
- 0 Close-security-classified inmates in a facility formally designated as a Close Security Unit — a structural classification anomaly
- 82 Age of Tex McIver when paroled after serving time at Long Unit, whose health was described as 'not great' in part due to his incarceration there
- $20M Georgia has paid nearly $20 million since 2018 to settle claims involving death or injury to state prisoners system-wide
- 1,795 Total deaths in Georgia prisons tracked by GPS from 2020 through May 2026, including 95 deaths in 2026 alone
- 2,481 Individuals held in county jail backlog awaiting GDC intake as of May 1, 2026 — compressing pressure onto all facilities including specialized units
By the Numbers
- 301 Deaths in 2025 (GPS tracked)
- 51 Confirmed Homicides in 2025
- 1,243 Poorly Controlled Health Conditions
- 2,530 Waiting in Jail (Backlog)
- 40.99 Average Inmate Age
- 8,108 In Private Prisons
Mortality Statistics
2 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: 1
County Public Health Department
Food service and sanitation at LONG UNIT fall under the jurisdiction of the Long 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
- Timmy Brinkley
- Address
-
P.O. Box 279
Ludowici, GA 31316 - Phone
- (912) 545-2107
- Timmy.Brinkley@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 LONG UNIT
Dear Timmy Brinkley,
I am writing to respectfully request that your office conduct a thorough, unannounced inspection of food service and sanitation practices at LONG UNIT, located in Long 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 23, 2025 | 100 | Routine | |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 96 | Routine | |
| Dec 18, 2024 | 100 | Routine | |
| Feb 12, 2024 | 100 | Routine | |
| Aug 9, 2023 | 100 | Routine |
December 23, 2025 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: Timmy Brinkley
No violations recorded for this inspection.
June 30, 2025 — Score 96
Routine · Inspector: Timmy Brinkley
| Code | Violation | Pts | Inspector notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2B |
food-contact surfaces: cleaned & sanitized 511-6-1.05(7)(a)1 - equipment, food-contact surfaces,& utensils (pf) | 4 | Observed " Brown substance" on inside of ice machine. CA: Spoke with PIC regarding its cleaning, PIC must make sure ice guard is cleaned in addition to the inside.511-6-1.05(7)(a)1 - Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces,& Utensils (Pf) (7) Cleaning of Equipment and Utensils.(a) Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, and Utensils.1. Equipment food-contact surfaces and utensils shall be clean to sight and touch. |
December 18, 2024 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: Timmy Brinkley
No violations recorded for this inspection.
February 12, 2024 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: Timmy Brinkley
No violations recorded for this inspection.
August 9, 2023 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: Timmy Brinkley
No violations recorded for this inspection.
Facility Overview and Classification Profile
Long Unit is formally designated as a Close Security Unit operating within Smith State Prison, located near Hinesville, Georgia. As of October 27, 2025, GPS population data shows a total of 231 inmates assigned to Long Unit — 63 classified at minimum security, 168 at medium security, and zero formally classified at close security. This internal breakdown is unusual: a facility bearing a close-security designation that houses no close-security-classified inmates is a structural anomaly that warrants scrutiny.
This profile reflects what GPS has identified system-wide as classification drift — facilities operating at effective security levels that do not match their formal designation, without corresponding adjustments to staffing ratios, infrastructure, or oversight. Long Unit's population skews toward medium classification (72.7% of the total), yet it operates under a close-security framework embedded within Smith State Prison, one of Georgia's Level 5 close-security prisons. The consequences of this mismatch — whether in terms of appropriate programming, proportionate restriction, or resource allocation — are not publicly documented by the GDC.
GPS tracks 231 inmates at Long Unit as of the most recent available population snapshot. The unit's relatively small size, combined with its structural embedding within a much larger close-security facility, limits independent visibility into daily conditions, staffing levels, and incident reporting.
Population Characteristics and Notable Cases
Long Unit has housed high-profile inmates whose circumstances have drawn public attention to conditions inside the facility. Former Atlanta attorney Claud "Tex" McIver, 82 years old at the time of his release, served time at Long Unit near Hinesville before being transferred to Augusta State Medical Prison in his final weeks of incarceration. McIver was paroled in January 2025 after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the 2016 shooting death of his wife, Diane McIver. His attorney, Don Samuel, described McIver's time at Long State Prison as a "miserable existence," telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that "nightmare doesn't begin to capture what the past seven years have been like for him."
McIver's case illustrates a recurring concern at Long Unit: the housing of elderly and medically vulnerable inmates within a close-security framework. McIver was 82 at the time of his release, and his health was described as "not great" — attributable in part to his age and his time at the facility. His eventual transfer to Augusta State Medical Prison in his final weeks suggests that Long Unit's medical resources were insufficient to meet his needs as his condition deteriorated.
Across the GDC system as of May 2026, GPS demographic data records 6 inmates designated as terminally ill and 1,243 with poorly controlled health conditions system-wide. While GPS cannot independently confirm how many of those individuals are housed at Long Unit specifically, the McIver case illustrates that Long Unit has been used to house seriously aging and medically complex individuals whose needs may exceed what a close-security unit structure is designed to accommodate.
Long Unit in the Context of GDC System Pressure
Long Unit exists within a GDC system that GPS data shows is under sustained and escalating population pressure. Weekly GDC population reports tracked by GPS show the total state prison population has increased by 201 over the 12-week period from February 13 to May 1, 2026, reaching 52,912 — with an additional 2,481 individuals held in county jails awaiting GDC intake as of May 1, 2026. This backlog, which has remained above 2,300 for most of the period GPS has tracked, creates downstream pressure on every facility in the system, including specialized units like Long Unit.
The broader system context also includes an accelerating pattern of population reshuffling. GPS documented that between February and April 2026, Warden Kendric Jackson at Calhoun State Prison transferred 87 lifers out of that medium-security facility — 79.3% to close-security prisons — accounting for 67% of all medium-to-close-security lifer transfers system-wide during that period. While GPS has not confirmed transfers specifically into Long Unit during this period, the system-wide compression of lifer populations into close-security facilities increases pressure on all close-security infrastructure, including specialized units like Long Unit.
System-wide, GPS has independently tracked 1,795 total deaths in Georgia's prison system from 2020 through early May 2026, including 95 deaths in 2026 alone (27 confirmed homicides, 6 suicides, 4 natural causes, 2 overdoses, and 56 deaths whose cause remains unknown or pending GPS investigation). These figures are tracked and classified by GPS through independent reporting — the GDC does not publicly release cause-of-death information. GPS cannot confirm specific deaths at Long Unit from available records, but the system-wide mortality rate underscores the lethal conditions in which Long Unit operates as part of the larger GDC structure.
Accountability Gaps and Transparency Failures
Long Unit's embedded structure — a specialized unit within a larger facility — creates particular opacity in public reporting. Unlike standalone prisons that generate independent incident reports, transfer records, and staffing disclosures, units nested inside larger facilities can effectively disappear from public accountability mechanisms. GPS has not received independent reporting on incidents, staffing levels, or conditions specific to Long Unit, and the GDC does not publish facility-level data disaggregated to the unit level.
The settlement record for GDC-involved deaths and injuries provides broader accountability context: Georgia has paid nearly $20 million since 2018 to settle claims involving death or injury to state prisoners. This figure, reported across multiple news sources, reflects the financial cost of a system that GPS has documented as chronically under-staffed and structurally incapable of protecting people in its custody. Long Unit's profile — housing medium-security-classified individuals in a close-security framework, with documented housing of elderly and medically vulnerable inmates — places it within the same risk environment that has generated those settlements system-wide.
GPS will continue tracking population data, transfer records, and incident reports involving Long Unit. Individuals with direct knowledge of conditions at Long Unit — including currently and formerly incarcerated people, family members, and staff — are encouraged to contact GPS directly.
Source Articles (4)
Former leadership
Officials who previously held leadership roles at this facility.
| Role | Name | Tenure | Deaths this facility / career |
|---|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 1 (facility lead) | Clark, Jennifer R | 2025-01-01 → 2025-05-31 | — / — |
| Warden (facility lead) | Clanton, Roderick | 2024-06-16 → 2025-05-31 | — / — |
| Superintendent (facility lead) | Stokes, David | 2024-02-16 → 2024-06-15 | 1 / 11 |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT (facility lead) | Stokes, David | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-15 | 1 / 11 |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT (facility lead) | Clanton, Roderick | 2023-01-01 → 2023-09-30 | — / — |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT (facility lead) | Sikes, Shawn Louis | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | — / — |
| CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT (facility deputy) | Dennis, Pamela | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | 1 / 1 |
| CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT (facility deputy) | Clanton, Roderick | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 | — / — |