HANCOCK STATE PRISON
Facility Information
- Original Design Capacity
- 500 (at 234% capacity)
- Bed Capacity
- 1,191 beds
- Current Population
- 1,169
- Active Lifers
- 260 (22.2% of population) · Oct 2026 GDC report
- Life Without Parole
- 215 (18.4%)
What the courts held in Brown v. Plata, and how Georgia compares →
- Address
- 701 Prison Boulevard, Sparta, GA 31087
- Phone
- (706) 444-1000
- Fax
- (706) 444-1137
- Mailing Address
- P.O. Box 339, Sparta, GA 31087
- County
- Hancock County
- Opened
- 1992
- Operator
- GDC (Georgia Dept. of Corrections)
Security Classification
Last updated: October 2, 2026
867 of the 1,168 people held here are classified Close security (74.2%), as of September 23, 2026.
| Security level | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Close | 867 | 74.2% |
| Medium | 265 | 22.7% |
| Minimum | 36 | 3.1% |
| Total | 1,168 |
Earlier count (undated table, produced October 22, 2025): 885 of 1,195 Close (74.1%).
Restrictive housing beds
| Program | Beds | Occupied |
|---|---|---|
| Tier II | 83 | 82 |
Source: Georgia Department of Corrections records produced to GPS under the Open Records Act (R031471-090226, R024615-101925, R031710-091426). A person's security level is GDC's classification of that person, which can differ from the prison's own designation.
Follow Hancock State Prison
Leadership & Accountability (as of 2026 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) | Williams, JOE | 2025-01-01 | 7 / 9 |
| Deputy Warden of Security (facility deputy) | Sanford, Paul Anthony | 2023-01-01 | 13 / 13 |
| Deputy Warden of Administration (facility deputy) | Adams, Chequita | 2026-01-16 | 6 / 6 |
| Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment (facility deputy) | Mitchell, Rashedah Fayola | 2026-02-01 | 5 / 5 |
| Deputy Warden of Security (facility deputy) | Mahoney, Tamika | 2026-07-16 | 2 / 2 |
About
Last updated November 1, 2026.(DS)
Hancock State Prison: A Close-Security Facility Running on a Skeleton Crew
Hancock State Prison sits on the edge of Sparta in Hancock County, a close-security men's facility that opened in 1992 on a design originally built for 500 people. Today it holds 1,169 people against a rated capacity of 1,191 — 98.2 percent — and it houses many of the state's highest-risk prisoners under Tier I and Tier II close-custody management, with multiple segregation and isolation units and an annex area alongside dormitory housing. The facility's public record is not a record of programming or rehabilitation; it is a record of bodies. GPS has recorded 28 deaths at Hancock since January 1, 2020, 17 of them classified as homicides. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in January 2025 that 73.5 percent of the prison's correctional officer positions were vacant as of October 2024 — leaving 49 officers on staff for more than 1,100 prisoners. What follows traces the deaths, the litigation, the staffing collapse, and the accounts that families and incarcerated people have given GPS about what happens inside a facility that the state's own consultants described as operating at emergency levels.
Twenty-Eight Deaths, Seventeen of Them Homicides
GPS's mortality registry records 28 deaths at Hancock State Prison since January 1, 2020. Seventeen are classified as homicides, five as unknown or pending, three as natural or medical, two as suicides, and one as other. The full list is maintained at gps.press/georgia-prison-deaths/facility/hancock-state-prison/.
The most recent deaths GPS has recorded are these. Devin Cole Edwards died October 30, 2026, at Hancock State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. Albert Chapa, 57, died July 30, 2026, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. Jacorey Derrelle Pearson, 36, died April 7, 2026, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Jerrod Johnson, 27, died February 18, 2026, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Jaylin Bell, 32, died February 6, 2026, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Steven Monroe Wood, 54, died January 25, 2026, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Andre Rashad Weems, 36, died September 9, 2025, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Brian Smith, 30, died July 24, 2025, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. Corey Jose July, 33, died June 17, 2025, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. John T Childree, 60, died April 9, 2025, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. William Holeman died January 30, 2025, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Prince Porter died January 30, 2025, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Travon Montrell Walthour, 29, died October 13, 2024, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Ralph Thompson, 53, died October 8, 2024, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. Timothy Dale Hicks, 37, died August 22, 2023, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide. Francisco Melgar-Saldivar, 26, died August 12, 2023, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Roland Lamont Phillips, 33, died June 28, 2023, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Norman Jackson Samples, 59, died December 27, 2022, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Zackery Phillip Brown, 39, died December 23, 2022, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide. Terry Lee Bishop, 49, died October 18, 2022, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Antione Lamar Bush, 32, died June 18, 2022, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. Charles Tristen Mckee, 24, died May 23, 2022, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Terrill Bernard Howard, 51, died October 17, 2021, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Other. Michael Anthony Brown, 54, died June 26, 2021, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. Dwayne Zackery, 22, died February 12, 2021, at Hancock State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.
Those 25 are the most recent of the 28. GPS's registry is a floor, not a ceiling: GDC reports deaths roughly two months late, and the count above reflects what has been recorded, not everything that has happened.
The January 2025 Dorm: Two Dead, Fifteen Feet Apart
The deaths of William Holeman, 34, and Prince Porter, 38, on January 30, 2025, produced the most detailed public account of a single Hancock incident. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the two men were found dead in the same dorm about 15 to 20 feet apart following gang-related violence; Porter had a single puncture wound in his upper back, and Holeman had no visible marks on his body. A third prisoner was hospitalized as a result of the violence, and no information on his condition was available the following day.
GDC's own mortality data for January 2025 — the one month in the department's published reporting that carried populated cause-of-death fields — lists both men's cause as "Homocide. Undetermined/ Awaiting Autopsy Report." Holeman's record carries GDC# 1000254674 and Porter's GDC# 1286421. Neither death is marked as officially confirmed in the record GPS holds.
The AJC's broader investigation, published January 31, 2025, described Hancock as having one of the GDC's highest correctional officer vacancy rates and reported that gang-related violence at the facility had resulted in two prisoner deaths, with the coroner leaning toward homicide in at least one case. In the same reporting, consultants found that staffing vacancies at 20 of Georgia's 34 prisons had reached "emergency levels," making it impossible to keep up with even basic protocols, and that cell locks at many prisons were broken. Gov. Brian Kemp proposed allocating an additional $600 million over 18 months to address staffing, emergency repairs and infrastructure.
A Yard, a Locked Gate, and a Killing on Camera
Corey Jose July was 33 when he died on June 17, 2025, in the Hancock yard. The Georgia Department of Corrections said July and Vershaun Smith were in an altercation in the yard; July was stabbed multiple times and died of his injuries. Prosecutors said surveillance video showed Smith chasing July, cornering him at a locked gate, and stabbing him multiple times. A Hancock County jury convicted Smith of malice murder, and Judge Alison T. Burleson sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. WGXA and 41NBC both reported the trial details.
The case is unusual in the Hancock record for the clarity of its evidence: a camera, a conviction, a sentence. Most Hancock deaths do not resolve that way. GPS's own reporting has described the July killing in accounts that emphasize the physical plant — a gate that was built, locked, and left unwatched — though that framing is GPS's analysis rather than a finding of the court.
The McKee Case: A DOJ Finding, a Lawsuit, and a Settlement
Charles "Tristen" James McKee, 24, died May 23, 2022, after being stabbed 13 times in the back and head. The U.S. Department of Justice investigation found that McKee tried to escape gang members who were beating and stabbing him by jumping through stair railings to the floor below, but the gang members continued to stab him there; another prisoner trying to stop the attack was seriously wounded. The AJC reported that McKee identified as LGBTQ and that the day before his death he had repeatedly asked to be moved, stating his life was in danger. A lawsuit alleges he was placed in a dorm with known gang members who were hostile to LGBTQ inmates, and that staff failed to act on his repeated requests to be moved the day before he was murdered.
Cleveland Gary was convicted in McKee's slaying. A Hancock County jury convicted Gary after he struck McKee six times in the head with a 17-inch homemade machete following a fight that had already ended, the AJC reported.
The state paid $424,710 in a liability settlement tied to Hancock State Prison and the 2022 incident, according to the Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger obtained through open records. The ledger links the payout to a documented death record.
Other Deaths That Ended in Court or in a Payout
The Hancock record includes a series of killings that produced criminal charges, civil claims, or state payouts.
Rashad Bolton, 29, died January 4, 2021, from a puncture wound to the chest with a sharp object. His parents filed a lawsuit claiming he was stabbed to death at Hancock. The state paid $437,500 in a liability settlement tied to Hancock and the 2021 incident, per the DOAS ledger.
Dwayne Zackery Jr., 22, died February 12, 2021, from a stab wound to the chest with a homemade knife; death data state he was stabbed by his cellmate, the AJC reported.
Cesar Arnold Pastrana Morales, 33, died March 13, 2020, from a stab wound to the chest; an incident report shows five other inmates were involved.
Travon Walthour, 29, was killed at Hancock on October 13, 2024; four other prisoners were involved in his death according to GDC incident report data, the AJC reported. GDC's official CY2024 Mortality Report (ORR R018717-012425) lists Walthour under GDC# 1001281373 with a date of death of 2024-10-13.
Roland Lamont Phillips, 33, died June 28, 2023, from multiple sharp force injuries including 11 puncture wounds to the front torso and one to the neck; a murder warrant was served against his cellmate, the AJC reported.
Francisco Zaldivar Melgar-Saldivar, 26, died August 12, 2023, from strangulation and blunt force injuries. A claim filed against the state alleges he was not provided appropriate medical care after being attacked by another prisoner at Hancock.
Norman Samples, 59, died December 27, 2022, from blunt force injuries to the head and torso. Terry Lee Bishop, 49, died October 18, 2022, from blunt force trauma, acute toxicity of methamphetamine, and acute toxicity of cannabinoids; death data show he was beaten to death by another prisoner.
The DOAS ledger also records older Hancock settlements: $600,000 tied to a 2019 incident involving Geberyesus Yemane Selassie; $13,800 tied to a 2016 incident involving Freedie Barnes; $250 tied to a 2016 incident involving Rico Sterling; and $2,000 tied to a 2015 incident involving Michael Bolick.
The 2026 Cluster: Four Deaths in Ten Months
The first ten months of 2026 produced a cluster of Hancock deaths that GPS records as homicides or as pending.
Steven Wood, 54, died January 25, 2026, following an altercation with another inmate. Wood was serving life with the possibility of parole for a murder conviction out of Cherokee County. His body was turned over to the county coroner and sent to the GBI crime lab to determine the official cause of death. GDC's Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation, which the department described as standard procedure.
Jaylin Bell, 32, died February 6, 2026, following an altercation with his roommate. His body was likewise turned over to the county coroner for transport to the GBI crime lab, and the Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation.
Jacorey Pearson, 36, died April 7, 2026. The cause of death was not released, and the body was turned over to the county coroner for transport to the GBI crime lab. The Office of Professional Standards investigated, and the investigation was described as ongoing.
Devin Cole Edwards died October 30, 2026. GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. Marcus Johnson, administrator of the Georgia Prison Reform Coalition, wrote in the group's Facebook page that day that Edwards "was reportedly killed this morning at Hancock State Prison by his cellmate," and asked for "transparency, accountability, and a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death." Tyler Ryals, a former GDC officer, wrote the same day in the Ga. Prisons Exposed Facebook group that "another man lost his life in one of GDC'S lockdown units this morning at Hancock State Prison." Those are the posters' accounts; GDC has not publicly characterized the death in the record GPS holds.
Between those deaths, on January 13, 2026, at least two inmates were injured during a brawl inside Hancock; officials did not detail the severity of the injuries or say whether the inmates were taken to a hospital.
Staffing: 49 Officers for More Than 1,100 Prisoners
The vacancy figure is the spine of the Hancock story. The AJC reported in January 2025 that 73.5 percent of correctional officer positions at Hancock were vacant as of October 2024, leaving only 49 officers on staff for over 1,100 prisoners. That is among the highest vacancy rates in the GDC.
GPS has documented the systemwide context in which that number sits. Officer vacancies in Georgia's prisons have run between 49.3 percent and 60 percent systemwide for multiple years, against a national standard of no more than 10 percent; at Valdosta State Prison the rate reached 80 percent by April 2024. The hiring pipeline cannot close the gap — acceptance rate under 15 percent, with 82.7 percent of new hires leaving in their first year — and Georgia ranks last of 50 states for correctional-officer pay. The October 2024 DOJ findings letter concluded that "the leadership of the Georgia Department of Corrections has lost control of its facilities" and faulted GDC for placing "too much blame on gangs and insufficient emphasis on understaffing." Approximately 31 percent of the system's roughly 49,000 incarcerated population are validated members of 315 different security threat groups — more than double the national average. DOJ and the Guidehouse 2024 consultant assessment independently concluded that gangs effectively run multiple facilities, controlling access to phones, showers, food, and bed assignments.
GPS records show the staffing problem as a live, recurring signal at Hancock specifically: 12 distinct sources reporting staffing shortages across five months between May and October 2026, at severities ranging from critical to low.
What Families and Incarcerated People Describe
GPS has received recurring reports from inside Hancock about the conditions that the staffing numbers imply. Inmate accounts collected by GPS describe housing units left without an officer present, and describe incarcerated people treating one another's wounds because no medical response arrived. GPS has received accounts of use of force at the facility, and accounts of an in-custody death attributed to violence. Multiple sources at Hancock report that people who were attacked were returned to the same housing unit afterward.
GPS records show 21 distinct sources reporting alleged inmate-on-inmate assaults at Hancock across eight months of 2026, at critical and high severity, with the U.S. Department of Justice named among the external entities involved. Seven sources report family safety concerns; six report medical neglect; four report excessive force; four report unattended mental-health crises in October 2026 alone. Six external complaints were filed to oversight bodies during the year — the Governor's Office, the GBI, the Commissioners Office, the DOJ Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Department of Justice among them.
Two public Facebook posts in the fall of 2026 give a sense of how those reports reach the outside. On September 3, Tyler Ryals, a former GDC officer, wrote that he had received information about potential gang tensions at Hancock, called the prison's main control and spoke with Captain Williamson to report the warning, and was later told that a lieutenant had gone to the affected area and asked whether everyone was okay "without entering the buildings or conducting a meaningful security and medical check." Ryals wrote that stabbings were subsequently reported inside the E-1 and E-2 buildings, that officers were reportedly unaware because those buildings had been left without an officer present, and that up to five people may have been injured, including two seriously. He wrote that because staff allegedly did not provide medical assistance, other incarcerated individuals attempted to close and patch the wounds themselves, and that a former medical orderly had allegedly been stealing suture kits and selling them in the dorms. Christal Pate shared the same account on Facebook the following day. These are Ryals's reported accounts, relayed publicly; GPS has not independently confirmed the specifics.
On October 10, 2026, a post in the Ga. Prisons Exposed group under the name Ron Chezz — signed by Marcus Johnson as GPRC administrator — stated that a man named Keron had survived a stabbing at Hancock and was sent back to the prison, but "was returned to the same dorm and cell where the incident occurred." The post asked "serious questions" about his safety.
On September 5, 2026, Ryals wrote that on September 3 an emergency "reportedly unfolded inside a dormitory at Hancock State Prison while incarcerated people were left without meaningful officer presence or intervention for hours," and that incarcerated people were reportedly forced to reach beyond the prison walls to alert someone outside so help could be summoned.
Contraband, Cell Phones, and the Economy Inside
GDC's own published contraband reports document a steady flow of material into Hancock. In 2020 the department recorded 12 contraband incidents at the facility; in 2019, 10; in 2025, nine; in 2024, six. A single March 8, 2026 incident at Hancock, reported by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office, produced a seizure list that included 35 cellphones, 908 grams of marijuana, 5,484 grams of tobacco, 18 vapes, 39 lighters, two knives, 18 SIM activation books, 12 SIM card keys, 12 AirTags, 52 cables, and four bottles of Promethazine, along with clothing, food, and a wrench. GDC publishes arrests as reported, not convictions.
The cell-phone traffic is not incidental. The AJC reported in January 2025 that short-staffing, safety problems and corruption inside Georgia's prisons have allowed prisoners to operate large criminal enterprises from their cells, with 28 major drug-trafficking cases filed between 2015 and 2024. In January 2019, Hancock officer Jasmine Nicole Hall was caught with water bottles containing compartments filled with meth, pot, ecstasy and hydrocodone; phone evidence revealed an ongoing drug distribution scheme across eight prisons totaling over $5,000 in transactions, the AJC reported.
The Physical Plant and the Food-Safety Record
Hancock's infrastructure is part of the record. GPS has documented that most GDC facilities are 30 to 40-plus years old, with patterns of deferred maintenance that have produced systemwide failures: broken cell-door locks, inoperative surveillance and fire-alarm systems, mold and water failures, broken kitchen sanitization equipment, and pest infestations. The DOJ October 2024 findings, the Guidehouse 2024 assessment, and Commissioner Oliver's public "end of life" statements all corroborate the pattern. GPS treats infrastructure collapse as a force multiplier for the violence, classification, gang-control, and mortality crises documented at the facility level.
The Georgia Department of Public Health's food-safety inspections at Hancock tell a narrower story. Between October 2023 and June 2026 the facility received routine inspection scores of 100 (Grade A) on most visits, with two exceptions: a 96 on May 27, 2025, with one violation for food-contact surfaces not cleaned and sanitized, and a 93 on June 25, 2024, with two violations for improper eating, tasting, drinking or tobacco use and personal cleanliness. GPS has documented a systemic pattern in which DPH scores fail to capture food-service sanitation failure across GDC kitchens — broken tray-sanitizing dishwashers, sustained roach and rodent infestation, meals served on contaminated trays — because inspections are scheduled walkthroughs that do not assess equipment under load. The Marshall Project's May 16, 2026 investigation of Georgia prison food independently reported rats in kitchens, insects in food, moldy trays, and visible malnutrition across Georgia facilities. High DPH scores at GDC facilities coexist with sustained witness reports of equipment failure and food contamination.
Classification, Gang Control, and the Wider System
Hancock is a close-security facility, and its population reflects that. GPS has documented classification drift across Georgia's prisons — medium-security facilities operating as close security without adequate staffing and infrastructure — and Hancock's own profile places it among the facilities housing the state's highest-risk prisoners under Tier I and Tier II close-custody management. The DOJ's 2024 findings described violence, sexual assaults and gang-run prisons in Georgia, fueled by a culture of indifference, the AJC reported.
GPS has documented that sexual violence in GDC facilities is systemic. The October 2024 DOJ findings letter concluded that sexual assault is "rampant" and that GDC does not reasonably protect incarcerated people, including LGBTI individuals, from sexual harm. Of 456 sexual-abuse allegations recorded in 2022, only 35 were substantiated — 7.7 percent. GDC's own consultants, PREA Auditors of America, reviewed 388 PREA investigation files in May 2022 and found that not one met the law's standards. Georgia has never submitted a PREA certification of full compliance to the U.S. Department of Justice in the law's two-decade history.
The systemwide death toll is the backdrop. GPS has independently tracked 1,928 deaths in GDC custody since 2020. The DOJ investigation documented a surge in Georgia prison homicides from 8 to 9 annually in 2017-2018 to 100 in 2024, with 333 total deaths in 2024 — the deadliest year in state history — and found Georgia's in-prison homicide rate nearly eight times the national average. Hancock's 17 recorded homicides since 2020 are a facility-level expression of that curve.
Leadership and Accountability
Hancock's warden is Joe Williams, who has held the post since January 2025. The deputy wardens of security are Paul Anthony Sanford and Tamika Mahoney; Rashedah Fayola Mitchell is deputy warden of care and treatment, and Chequita Adams is deputy warden of administration. Those are the current appointments in GPS's personnel records.
The facility's recent history is one in which the state has paid out for deaths and the department has opened internal investigations that it describes as routine. The DOAS ledger records $1.07 million in Hancock-related liability settlements across the 2019, 2021, and 2022 incidents alone. Whether the $600 million Kemp proposed in January 2025 reached Sparta, and what it changed, is not established in the public record GPS holds.
Sources
This analysis draws on reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WGXA, and 41NBC; the Georgia Department of Corrections' published mortality reports and contraband reports; the Georgia Department of Public Health's food-safety inspection records; the Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger obtained through open records; federal court filings and the U.S. Department of Justice's October 2024 findings letter; public Facebook posts by Marcus Johnson of the Georgia Prison Reform Coalition, former GDC officer Tyler Ryals, and Christal Pate; and inmate, family, and anonymous accounts collected by GPS staff. Death data are drawn from GPS's mortality registry, which is a floor rather than a complete count because GDC reports deaths roughly two months late.
Mortality Statistics
28 deaths documented at this facility from 2020 to present.
Deaths by Year
- 2026: 6
- 2025: 6
- 2024: 2
- 2023: 3
- 2022: 5
- 2021: 4
- 2020: 2
County Public Health Department
Food service and sanitation at HANCOCK STATE PRISON fall under the jurisdiction of the Hancock 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
-
P.O. Box 398
Sparta, GA 31087 - Phone
- (706) 444-6616
- hancock.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.
November 5, 2026
RE: Request for Unannounced Public Health Inspection of Food Service Operations at HANCOCK 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 HANCOCK STATE PRISON, located in Hancock County.
Documented concerns
Georgia Prisoners' Speak, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit investigative newsroom, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 2026 | 100 | Routine | |
| Dec 18, 2025 | 100 | Routine | |
| May 27, 2025 | 96 | Routine | |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 100 | Routine | |
| Jun 25, 2024 | 100 | Routine | |
| Oct 13, 2023 | 100 | Routine |
June 25, 2026 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
December 18, 2025 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
May 27, 2025 — Score 96
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
| 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) Corrected | 4 | Observed black slimy substance in ice machine beside handwash station. Equipment Food-Contact Surfaces and Utensils.1. Equipment food-contact surfaces and utensils shall be cleaned:(i) Before each use with a different type of raw animal food such as beef, fish, lamb, pork, or poultry. It does not apply if the food-contact surface or utensil is in contact with a succession of different types of raw meat and raw poultry each requiring a higher cooking temperature as specified under DPH Rule 511-6-1.04(5)(a) than the previous type such as preparing raw pork followed by cutting raw poultry on the same cutting board; P(ii) Each time there is a change from working with raw foods to working with ready-to-eat foods; P(iii) Between uses with raw fruits and vegetables and with Time/Temperature Control for safety food; P(iv) Before using or storing a food temperature measuring device; P and(v) At any time during the operation when contamination may have occurred. P2. Except as specified in paragraph 3 of this subsection, if used with time/temperature control for safety food, equipment food-contact surfaces and utensils shall be cleaned at least every 4 hours throughout the day. P3. Surfaces of utensils and equipment contacting time/temperature control for safety food may be cleaned less frequently than every 4 hours if:(i) In storage, containers of time/temperature control for safety food and their contents are maintained at temperatures specified under DPH Rule 511-6-1-.04 and the containers are cleaned when they are empty;(ii) Utensils and equipment are used to prepare food in a refrigerated room or area that is maintained at one of the temperatures in the following chart and:(I) The utensils and equipment are cleaned at the frequency in the following chart that corresponds to the temperature:Temperature Cleaning Frequency41ºF (5.0ºC) or less 24 hours>41ºF - 45ºF (>5.0ºC - 7.2ºC) 20 hours>45ºF - 50ºF (>7.2ºC - 10.0ºC) 16 hours>50ºF - 55ºF (>10.0ºC - 12.8ºC) 10 hoursand(II) The cleaning frequency based on the ambient temperature of the refrigerated room or area is documented in the food service establishment.(iii) Temperature measuring devices are maintained in contact with food, such as when left in a container of deli food or in a roast, held at temperatures specified under DPH Rule 511-6-1- .04;(iv) Equipment is used for storage of packaged or unpackaged food, such as a reach-in refrigerator, and the equipment is cleaned at a frequency necessary to preclude accumulation of soil residues;(v) The cleaning schedule is approved based on consideration of:(I) Characteristics of the equipment and its use,(II) The type of food involved,(III) The amount of food residue accumulation, and(IV) The temperature at which the food is maintained during the operation and the potential for the rapid and progressive multiplication of pathogenic or toxigenic microorganisms that are capable of causing foodborne disease; or(vi) In-use utensils are intermittently stored in a container of water in which the water is maintained at 135ºF (57ºC) or more and the utensils and container are cleaned at least every 24 hours or at a frequency necessary to preclude accumulation of soil residues.4. Dining counters and table-tops shall be cleaned and sanitized routinely after removing all soiled tableware and food trays shall be cleaned and sanitized after each use by one of the following methods:(i) A two step method in which one cloth, rinsed in sanitizing solution is used to clean food debris from the surface and a second cloth in separate sanitizing solution is used to rinse;(ii) Sanitizing solution is sprayed onto the surface and the surface is then wiped clean with a disposable towel;(iii) If used for cleaning and sanitizing, single-use disposable sanitizer wipes shall be used in accordance with EPA-registered label use instructions; or(iv) Other methods approved by the Health Authority.(v) Food trays may be cleaned and sanitized the same as table ware.5. Except when dry cleaning methods are used as specified under subsection (7)(e) of this Rule, surfaces of utensils and equipment contacting food that is not time/temperature control for safety food shall be cleaned:(i) At any time when contamination may have occurred;(ii) At least every 24 hours for iced tea dispensers including nozzles and consumer self-service utensils such as tongs, scoops, or ladles;(iii) Before restocking consumer self-service equipment and utensils such as condiment dispensers and display containers; and(iv) 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. Machine was turned off and employee began scrubbing. |
December 31, 2024 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
June 25, 2024 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
October 13, 2023 — Score 100
Routine · Inspector: William Minton
No violations recorded for this inspection.
Recent reports (29)
Source-attributed observations and allegations from news coverage and reports submitted to GPS. Each entry credits its source.
- ALLEGATION According to WGXA Recorded by GPS: Sep 21, 2026Vershaun Smith chased down and stabbed fellow inmate Corey Jose July multiple times, killing him, as shown in surveillance footage presented at trial.
"The jury was shown surveillance footage of Smith chasing down and stabbing July to death, according to the Oculmulgee District Attorney's Office."
Read source → - ALLEGATION According to 41NBC Published: Aug 13, 2026Smith chased July, cornered him at a locked gate, and stabbed him multiple times in the prison yard.
"Prosecutors said surveillance video showed Smith chasing July, cornering him at a locked gate, and stabbing him multiple times."
Read source → - ALLEGATION According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published: Jan 21, 2025A lawsuit alleges Charles 'Tristen' James McKee was placed in a dorm with known gang members who were hostile to LGBTQ inmates, contributing to his death.
"A lawsuit alleges he was placed in a dorm with known gang members who were hostile to LGBTQ inmates."
Read source → - ALLEGATION According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published: Jan 21, 2025A claim filed against the state alleges Francisco Zaldivar Melgar-Saldivar was not provided appropriate medical care after being attacked by another prisoner.
"A claim filed against the state alleges that he wasn't provided appropriate medical care after being attacked by another prisoner."
Read source → - ALLEGATION According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published: Jan 21, 2025Prison officials placed Amanuel Selassie Geberyesus in a regular cell contrary to a counselor's advice after he expressed suicidal thoughts, and he subsequently hung himself.
"He told counselors that he had thoughts of suicide but contrary to a counselor's advice prison officials placed him in in a regular cell, where he hung himself in March 2019."
Read source →
Timeline (76)
Source Articles (26)
Former leadership
Officials who previously held leadership roles at this facility.
| Role | Name | Tenure | Deaths this facility / career |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interim Warden (facility lead) | Ivey, George | 2010-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | 15 / 15 |
| Deputy Warden of Security (facility deputy) | Mahoney, Tamikia Nicole | 2013-01-01 → present | 28 / 29 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Foston, Jeremy Andrew | 2019-01-01 → 2025-12-31 | 22 / 22 |
| Deputy Warden (facility deputy) | Washington, Calpurnia Frederica | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 | — / — |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Wells, Katherine | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 | — / — |
| Deputy Warden (facility deputy) | Ivey Jr, George | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 | — / — |
| Chaplain (specialty lead) | Larkin, Rechard A | 2023-11-22 → 2026-08-27 | — / — |
Location
Aerial View
Satellite image: Esri World Imagery. Architecture documents what the building was designed to hold. See the system-wide receipts at gps.press/warehouse.
Then and now
Each photo shows the same 1.2 km square, north up, so buildings line up from one year to the next. The older photos are U.S. Geological Survey aerial photographs. The photos from 1988 and earlier were taken on film and lined up with the later ones by their roads, so their positions are approximate. The early-1980s photos were taken from very high up and are less sharp. Select a photo to see it full size.