WASHINGTON STATE PRISON
Facility Information
- Original Design Capacity
- 750 (at 157% capacity)
- Bed Capacity
- 1,548 beds
- Current Population
- 1,179
- Active Lifers
- 341 (28.9% of population) · Jun 2026 GDC report
Read: Brown v. Plata - A Legal Roadmap for Georgia's Prison Crisis →
- Address
- 13262 Hwy 24 East, Davisboro, GA 31018
- Phone
- (478) 348-5814
- Fax
- (478) 348-5613
- Mailing Address
- P.O. Box 206, Davisboro, GA 31018
- County
- Washington County
- Opened
- 1991
- Operator
- GDC (Georgia Dept. of Corrections)
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) | Stewart, Veronica M | 2024-01-01 | 23 / 39 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Dogan, Helen R | 2016-01-01 | 38 / 38 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Jackson, Tarra L Tomlin | 2021-01-01 | 37 / 37 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Whipple, Tamishia V | 2024-01-01 | 23 / 23 |
| Deputy Warden of Security (facility deputy) | Grier, Tamara | 2025-11-16 | 10 / 10 |
About
A January 2026 gang war at Washington State Prison killed at least four men and injured over a dozen, exposing a medium-security facility hollowed out by understaffing, classification drift, broken infrastructure, and a starvation-level food budget — a predictable eruption of violence inside a prison the DOJ found to b
Mortality Statistics
46 deaths documented at this facility from 2020 to present.
Deaths by Year
- 2026: 16
- 2025: 10
- 2024: 5
- 2023: 6
- 2022: 8
- 2021: 0
- 2020: 1
County Public Health Department
Food service and sanitation at WASHINGTON STATE PRISON fall under the jurisdiction of the Washington 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
- Environmental Health Director
- Address
-
201 Morningside Drive
Sandersville, GA 31082 - Phone
- (478) 552-3210
- washington.eh@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.
June 5, 2026
RE: Request for Unannounced Public Health Inspection of Food Service Operations at WASHINGTON STATE PRISON
Dear County Environmental Health Director,
I am writing to respectfully request that your office conduct a thorough, unannounced inspection of food service and sanitation practices at WASHINGTON STATE PRISON, located in Washington 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 2025 | 91 | Routine | |
| Dec 30, 2024 | 98 | Routine | |
| Mar 22, 2024 | 95 | Routine | |
| Jun 29, 2023 | 88 | Routine |
November 7, 2025 — Score 91
Routine · Inspector: Justin Jones
| Code | Violation | Pts | Inspector notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2B |
food-contact surfaces: cleaned & sanitized 511-6-1.05(7)(b) - food contact surfaces and utensils - cleaning frequency (p, c) | 4 | Observed bulk ice machines with black substance on deflector plates. In equipment such as ice bins and beverage dispensing nozzles and enclosed components of equipment such as ice makers, cooking oil storage tanks and distribution lines, beverage and syrup dispensing lines or tubes, coffee bean grinders, and water vending equipment:(I) At a frequency specified by the manufacturer; or(II) Absent manufacturer specifications, at a frequency necessary to preclude accumulation of soil or mold.Increase cleaning frequency of ice machines. Machine should be sanitized before being put back into use. |
| 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) Repeat | 1 | Observed broken pipe from 3-compartment sink in pots and pan area draining directly onto the floor. Observed floor tiles broken, missing throughout the facility. Some areas holding water. All areas should be maintained in good condition. This has been an ongoing issue for years. Some of the tiles have been removed in large areas. Continue efforts toward compliance. |
| 18 |
insects, rodents, and animals not present 511-6-1.07(5)(k) - controlling pests (pf, c) | 3 | Observed live pests and evidence of rodents and pests. The presence of insects, rodents, and other pests shall be controlled to minimize their presence on the premises by:1. Routinely inspecting incoming shipments of food and supplies;2. Routinely inspecting the premises for evidence of pests;3. Using methods, if pests are found, such as trapping devices or other means of pest control as specified under subsections (6)(e), (6)(m), and (6)(n) of this Rule; Pf and4. Eliminating harborage conditions. |
December 30, 2024 — Score 98
Routine · Inspector: Justin Jones
| Code | Violation | Pts | Inspector notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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) Repeat | 1 | Observed broken pipe from 3-compartment sink in pots and pan area draining directly onto the floor. Observed floor tiles broken, missing throughout the facility. Some areas holding water. All areas should be maintained in good condition. This has been an ongoing issue for years. Some of the tiles have been removed in large areas. Continue efforts toward compliance. |
March 22, 2024 — Score 95
Routine · Inspector: Justin Jones
| Code | Violation | Pts | Inspector notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10D |
food properly labeled; original container 511-6-1.04(4)(d) - food storage containers identified with common name of food (c) Corrected | 3 | Observed storage container with dry ingredients with no label. Could not determine if it was sugar or salt by looking at it. Except for containers holding food that can be readily and unmistakably recognized, such as dry pasta, working containers holding food or food ingredients that are removed from their original packages for use in the food establishment, such as cooking oils, flour, herbs, potato flakes, salt, spices, and sugar shall be clearly and legibly identified, in English, with the common name of the food. |
| 15A |
food and nonfood-contact surfaces cleanable, properly designed, constructed, and used 511-6-1.05(2)(a) - equipment and utensils, constructed of durable materials (c) | 1 | Observed dry goods being stored in broken storage bin in bakery area. Equipment and utensils shall be designed and constructed to be durable and to retain their characteristic qualities under normal use conditions. |
| 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 broken pipe from 3-compartment sink in pots and pan area draining directly onto the floor. Observed floor tiles broken, missing throughout the facility. Some areas holding water. All areas should be maintained in good condition. This has been an ongoing issue for years. Some of the tiles have been removed in large areas. Continue efforts toward compliance. |
June 29, 2023 — Score 88
Routine · Inspector: Justin Jones
| Code | Violation | Pts | Inspector notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1B |
proper hot holding temperatures 511-6-1.04(6)(f) - time/temperature control for safety; hot holding (p) | 9 | Observed several food items (see comments) being hot held below 135F in Cambro units . Except during preparation, cooking, or cooling, or when time is used as the public health control, time/temperature control for safety food shall be maintained at 41°F (5°C) or below or 135°F (57°C) or above, except that roasts cooked to a temperature and for a time specified in subsection (5)(a)2 of this Rule and reheated using the same temperature and time conditions as cooking may be held at a temperature of 130°F (54°C) or above. Reheated. |
| 18 |
insects, rodents, and animals not present 511-6-1.07(5)(k) - controlling pests (pf, c) | 3 | Observed live pests and evidence of rodents and pests. The presence of insects, rodents, and other pests shall be controlled to minimize their presence on the premises by:1. Routinely inspecting incoming shipments of food and supplies;2. Routinely inspecting the premises for evidence of pests;3. Using methods, if pests are found, such as trapping devices or other means of pest control as specified under subsections (6)(e), (6)(m), and (6)(n) of this Rule; Pf and4. Eliminating harborage conditions. |
Analysis written on June 4, 2026.
Washington State Prison, a medium-security facility in Davisboro, opened in 1991 designed to hold 750 people. It now houses roughly 1,223, well within its listed capacity of 1,548 — yet a torrent of inmate and family accounts, physical evidence, and investigative reporting points to an institution buckling under structural decay, chronic understaffing, and a shockingly inadequate food supply. The facility’s warden, Veronica Stewart, was appointed in 2024 with no prior warden-track experience, and the single deadliest disturbance in recent Georgia prison history erupted here less than two years later.
The January 2026 Bloodbath: A Gang War Inside the Visitation Room
On January 11, 2026, during visitation hours, multiple fights erupted among gang-affiliated prisoners at Washington State Prison. The violence spilled from a sidewalk into the visitation area, where families were present. Inmate witnesses describe occupants leaving housing units without authorization and pursuing others into the common areas. Within roughly ninety minutes, three incarcerated men — Jimmy Trammell, 42; Ahmod Hatcher, 23; and Teddy Jackson, 27 — were dead. A fourth, Silas Westbrook, 42, died days later from what the Georgia Department of Corrections called a “medical emergency” during transfer. A fifth death, Dajhmere Hall, occurred just two days earlier under separate circumstances, bringing the immediate death toll to five in a single week, according to GPS’s independent reporting.
Sheriff Joel Cochran confirmed two inmate deaths and said the facility was “under control.” The GDC likewise announced that staff had deployed non-lethal weapons and regained control by 3 p.m. Yet, according to GPS documentation, the prison was placed on continuous lockdown after the incident — a lockdown that, by late spring 2026, had not been fully lifted, leaving the general population cut off from outdoor access, programming, and commissary for months.
Twelve incarcerated men were subsequently charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, gang participation, and unlawful acts of violence. The investigation remains active, and GDC has publicly framed the disturbance as a “gang-affiliated incident.”
A Pattern of Unchecked Violence Far Deeper Than One Riot
The January 2026 riot was not an anomaly but the crest of a years-long wave of deadly violence. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has documented multiple homicides at Washington State Prison: Devonte Tiger Williams, 26, died in August 2024 from multiple sharp force injuries to his torso, head, and neck; Michael Lee Jackson, 60, died in August 2022 from blunt force trauma; and Marquis Reshawn Jefferson, 26, died in May 2022 from stab wounds. In April 2024, 31-year-old Jacob Cole Henson was fatally shot by a GDC officer during a fight at a hospital where he had been taken for treatment of stab wounds received earlier that day.
GPS’s own investigative reporting records further attacks. In early 2025, Dontavis Carter was found murdered in a pool of blood, with contraband phone video capturing the incident. Jamie Shahan was beaten multiple times and placed on life support after a gang assault left him with severe brain injuries. GPS’s systemic analysis found Washington State Prison is a site of sustained gang-driven violence, contraband smuggling via drones, and alleged staff complicity — a finding corroborated by the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2024 investigation, which concluded that Georgia prison officials are “deliberately indifferent” to unchecked deadly violence, extortion, and sexual assault.
GPS intelligence signals show that in the 12 months leading up to May 2026, 15 distinct reports of inmate-on-inmate assault were documented at this facility, alongside eight death-in-custody reports and multiple external complaints filed to the DOJ Civil Rights Division. Multiple families have told GPS that staff encourage physical altercations and tell incarcerated people they will not be protected — accounts that align with what former inmate Earl White told 13WMAZ: that dorms house more than 50 men with no supervision, and that people carry and use deadly knives daily without intervention. Inmate Brandon, speaking to the same outlet, described being robbed, beaten, and stabbed repeatedly, and said no staff come to help even in life-or-death situations.
The Classification Trap: A Medium-Security Prison at the Breaking Point
Washington State Prison is a medium-security facility. But GPS’s 2025 investigation, “The Classification Crisis: How Four Medium Security Prisons Are Killing People,” documented a systemic drift in which medium-security prisons across Georgia are forced to house close-security inmates without the staffing, infrastructure, or programming needed to manage higher-risk populations. This drift directly fuels the violence.
A December 2024 consultant study commissioned by Governor Kemp found that in Georgia prisons, building maintenance failures allowed prisoners to strip materials to make weapons, cell-door locks did not function, and officers working alone feared retaliation for enforcing rules. The DOJ’s 2024 findings specifically faulted GDC for placing “too much blame on gangs and insufficient emphasis on understaffing.” GPS has further established that officer vacancies statewide run between 49% and 60%, and that gangs have assumed functional control of multiple facilities, managing access to phones, showers, food, and bed assignments. Inside Washington State Prison, family members report that roof material is falling, ceiling sections are collapsing, and sleeping bunks are rusting — conditions that both feed despair and supply raw material for weapons.
A Starvation Diet, Hidden Contamination, and Commissary as Lifeline
A meal served at Washington State Prison, captured in physical evidence obtained by GPS, consists of rice with a tomato-based sauce in a styrofoam bowl. That meal is representative of a systemwide food budget that GPS has calculated at approximately $1.69 per person per day — under 60 cents per meal — against the FDA Thrifty Food Plan estimate of roughly $10 per day for a nutritionally adequate adult male diet. In May 2026, The Marshall Project independently reported on rats in kitchens, insects in food, moldy trays, and visible malnutrition across Georgia’s prisons, directly connecting chronic underfeeding to the violence pattern the DOJ had earlier identified.
DPH food-safety inspections at Washington State Prison tell a conflicting story. The facility received scores of 91, 94, 97, and 98 on inspections between 2023 and 2025, but GPS’s 2023 investigation “Dunked, Stacked, and Served” found that high DPH scores coexist with witness reports of tray-sanitizing dishwashers broken for sustained periods, roach and rodent infestations in kitchen equipment, and meals served on visibly contaminated trays — because inspections are scheduled walkthroughs that do not assess equipment under load, and because regulatory capture obscures real conditions.
Families have told GPS that the commissary has become the primary means of survival — and that Washington State Prison is now strangling that lifeline. Physical documentation shows that commissary orders have been capped per item: limits on water, meat, rice, soups, chips, cookies, drink mixes, and other staples. After the January 2026 disturbance, the prison allegedly withheld commissary access from the general population entirely, except for those on work details, and prohibited families from sending food. GPS has received a flood of reports that incarcerated people are going hungry.
Medical Neglect and a Broken System of Care
Medical care has been described as both absent and hazardous. During the January 2026 lockdown, multiple witnesses reported that medication distribution — including insulin — was disrupted, leaving those with chronic conditions at risk. In a facility where the population is aging and where blunt force homicides occur, the absence of reliable medical response is catastrophic. The AJC’s homicide records show deaths in custody that raise questions about whether emergency care was timely or adequate — Silas Westbrook, for instance, was initially treated for minor injuries at the prison and later died after being released from a hospital.
The systemic context is stark: Georgia spends approximately 14 times more on medical care for incarcerated people ($432 million) than on their food, an imbalance that GPS has described as treating the consequences of a deliberately malnourished and violence-racked population rather than addressing root causes.
Leadership, Accountability, and the Road Ahead
Warden Veronica Stewart was appointed in June 2024 at a time when GPS documented her elevation as an appointment without advanced leadership qualifications. In November 2025, Tamara Grier was named Deputy Warden of Security, bringing 22 years of correctional experience. But the facility they inherited is one where sophisticated gangs run black markets in drugs, weapons, and electronics, with drone drops and staff complicity reported by GPS. In May 2026, a federal indictment revealed that incarcerated person Luis Alfonso Ramirez had directed a drug trafficking network from Washington State Prison using contraband cellphones; in 2024, Jeffery White led a meth network from the same prison that distributed more than 200 pounds of crystal meth into Florida.
The legal landscape is shifting. In March 2026, a federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s juvenile-lifer parole process, ruling that the system may violate the Eighth Amendment — a decision that directly bears on individuals housed at Washington State Prison serving life sentences for crimes committed as minors.
Meanwhile, the Georgia legislature has allocated over $600 million in new funding for staffing, salaries, and maintenance backlogs, but GPS’s reporting shows that new hires leave within their first year at rates above 82%, and the officer vacancy crisis remains the structural engine of violence.
This analysis draws on reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 13WMAZ, 41NBC, WGXA, WFXL, and GDC press releases; DPH food-safety inspection records; federal court filings; GPS’s own investigative coverage and mortality database; physical evidence of commissary restrictions and meals; and inmate and family accounts collected by GPS staff.
Recent reports (25)
Source-attributed observations and allegations from news coverage and reports submitted to GPS. Each entry credits its source.
- ALLEGATION According to WGXA Published: May 27, 2026Luis Alfonso Ramirez directed a drug trafficking network from Washington State Prison using contraband cellphones.
"A Washington state prison inmate, Luis Alfonso Ramirez, has been indicted for allegedly directing a major fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking network from inside Georgia’s Washington State Prison using contraband cellphones, according to federal prosecutors."
Read source → - ALLEGATION According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published: Jan 21, 2025A GDC officer fatally shot inmate Jacob Cole Henson during a fight at a hospital while transporting him for medical treatment.
"He was fatally shot after getting into a fight with a GDC officer who had taken him to a hospital to be treated for injuries he suffered in a stabbing incident earlier that day, according to police."
Read source → - ALLEGATION According to 11Alive Recorded by GPS: May 5, 2026GDC alleges the inmates involved in the deadly brawl were believed to be involved with gang activity.
"The inmates involved in Sunday's deadly brawl at Washington State Prison were believed to be involved with gang activity, according to a press release from the Georgia Department of Corrections."
Read source → - ALLEGATION According to 13WMAZ Recorded by GPS: May 5, 2026The GDC alleged that the inmates involved in the deadly brawl were believed to be involved with gang activity.
"The inmates involved in Sunday's deadly brawl at Washington State Prison were believed to be involved with gang activity, according to a press release from the Georgia Department of Corrections."
Read source → - ALLEGATION According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published: Jan 12, 2026Buildings with maintenance issues enabled prisoners to strip materials to make weapons, locks didn't work allowing easy cell escapes, and understaffing left movements unmonitored.
"Consultants hired for a yearlong study in June 2024 by Gov. Brian Kemp found that buildings with maintenance issues enabled prisoners to strip off materials from walls and ceilings to make weapons. They could also easily leave cells because the locks didn't work. Understaffing meant there often were no officers around to monitor the movements, the consultants reported, and officers working alone reported being fearful of retribution if they enforced the rules."
Read source →
Timeline (76)
Source Articles (43)
Former leadership
Officials who previously held leadership roles at this facility.
| Role | Name | Tenure | Deaths this facility / career |
|---|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 1 (facility lead) | White, Jermaine M | 2018-01-01 → 2019-12-31 | — / 19 |
Location
Aerial View
Architecture documents what the building was designed to hold. See the system-wide receipts at gps.press/warehouse.