RIVERBEND CORRECTIONAL AND REHABILITATION FACILITY
Facility Information
- Original Design Capacity
- 1,500 (at 101% capacity)
- Bed Capacity
- 1,588 beds
- Current Population
- 1,515
- Active Lifers
- 149 (9.8% of population) · Apr 2026 GDC report
Read: Brown v. Plata - A Legal Roadmap for Georgia's Prison Crisis →
- Address
- 196 Laying Farm Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061
- County
- Baldwin County
- Opened
- 2011
- Operator
- Unknown
- Warden
- Angela Phams
- Phone
- (478) 414-2300
- Fax
- (478) 414-2402
- Staff
- Asst. Warden Security: James Watson
- Asst. Warden Programs: Vanessa Butts-Hawkins
- Chief of Security: Ronnie Richardson
- Business Manager: Regenia Womble
- State Monitor: Sonja Brown
About
The facility, located in Milledgeville, Georgia, houses adult male felons with a capacity of 1,588 inmates. It was built and opened in 2011 as a privately operated prison managed by the GEO Group under contract with the Georgia Department of Corrections. The facility houses medium and minimum custody inmates in a mix of dormitory-style housing and two-man cells across six housing units, plus a lockdown unit with segregation and isolation beds.
Mortality Statistics
10 deaths documented at this facility from 2020 to present.
Deaths by Year
- 2026: 0
- 2025: 0
- 2024: 2
- 2023: 1
- 2022: 0
- 2021: 4
- 2020: 3
County Public Health Department
Food service and sanitation at RIVERBEND CORRECTIONAL AND REHABILITATION FACILITY fall under the jurisdiction of the Baldwin 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 County Manager
- Name
- Colin Duke, REHS
- Address
-
P.O. Box 459
Milledgeville, GA 31061 - Phone
- (478) 445-1591
- Colin.Duke@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.
April 26, 2026
RE: Request for Unannounced Public Health Inspection of Food Service Operations at RIVERBEND CORRECTIONAL AND REHABILITATION FACILITY
Dear Colin Duke, REHS,
I am writing to respectfully request that your office conduct a thorough, unannounced inspection of food service and sanitation practices at RIVERBEND CORRECTIONAL AND REHABILITATION FACILITY, located in Baldwin 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 21, 2026 | 100 | Routine | |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 100 | Routine | |
| Dec 20, 2024 | 100 | Routine | |
| Jun 26, 2024 | 100 | Routine | |
| Nov 30, 2023 | 100 | Routine | |
| May 25, 2023 | 96 | Routine |
January 21, 2026 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
June 30, 2025 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
December 20, 2024 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
June 26, 2024 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
November 30, 2023 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
May 25, 2023 — Score 96
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
| Code | Violation | Pts | Inspector notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2B |
proper eating, tasting, drinking, or tobacco use 511-6-1.03(5)(k)1&2 - eating, drinking, or using tobacco (c) Corrected | 4 | Observed a cup of coffee resting on a paper towel dispenser above a handwash sink.Employees shall consume food only in approved designated areas separate from food preparation and serving areas, equipment or utensil areas and food storage areas. However, drinking from a single service beverage cup with a secure lid and straw that is handled to prevent contamination of the employee’s hands, the container, exposed food, clean equipment, utensils and linens, unwrapped single-service and single-use articles will be allowed. The cup was removed and education was provided. |