ROGERS STATE PRISON

Last updated September 6, 2026.(DS)

Rogers State Prison: A Medium-Security Facility Under Strain

Rogers State Prison near Reidsville in Tattnall County opened in 1983 as a medium-security men's prison with a strong agricultural mission. The facility operates a large farm, dairy, canning plant, and meat production operation that supplies food to other Georgia prisons, relying heavily on unpaid or low-paid inmate labor. Housing consists of dormitories and cellblocks plus segregation units. The prison currently holds 1,299 people against a rated capacity of 1,391 — 93.4% occupancy — and more than triple its original 1983 design capacity of 430. Warden LEE C Clark has led the facility since January 2018, with Tina Kelley serving as Deputy Warden since September 2024, Michael L Goettie since January 2021, and Yolanda Byrd since January 2019.

GPS has tracked 14 deaths at Rogers State Prison since its mortality records began on January 1, 2020. Five have been classified as suicides, three as natural or medical, three as overdoses, and three remain unknown or pending. The most recent recorded death was John Meeks, 49, who died on February 19, 2026, with cause still pending. The facility's death record sits inside a system-wide toll that GPS has independently tracked at 1,890 deaths in GDC custody since 2020 — a figure GPS treats as a floor, since GDC reports deaths roughly two months late.

The Contested Death of Taylor Hunt

The most heavily documented case at Rogers State Prison is the September 2024 death of Taylor Anthony Hunt, 29. GDC officially ruled the cause of death as suicide by hanging in the shower. Two autopsies were performed — one by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and one by an independent examiner — and both ruled the cause of death suicide, according to GDC's stated position.

But the physical evidence in GPS's possession tells a different story. Autopsy photos provided by Hunt's family show ligature marks that GPS's review found consistent with strangulation rather than suicide by hanging. The notes presented as Hunt's suicide letters to his children contain misspellings of his own children's names — a detail GPS treats as a strong indicator of fabrication, since a parent would not misspell their children's names. Handwriting comparison against Hunt's confirmed writing samples has further called the notes' authenticity into serious question. GPS's review of the autopsy photos, conducted through a DOJ channel because the autopsy report itself remains withheld from the family by GBI, is consistent with strangulation rather than the suicide GDC ruled. That finding is disputed — GDC's official position remains suicide, corroborated by two autopsies — but the physical evidence GPS holds points the other way.

The family's efforts to obtain independent review have been repeatedly blocked. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has denied the family's two separate requests for the autopsy report, citing that the investigation remains open. Hunt's body was held for five days before transfer from the facility to authorities, per documentation in the family's possession comparing the death certificate to transfer paperwork. The family — with GPS support drafting formal letters — has requested a GBI homicide investigation, a coroner's inquest in Tattnall County, and other forms of independent review. Those requests have been denied or remain unanswered. Following Hunt's death, GDC staff had custody of his personal property, standard procedure when an incarcerated person dies.

GPS's internal analysis indicates that the totality of circumstances supports a homicide hypothesis over the official suicide ruling. That is an analytical conclusion, not a legal finding — but it is one GPS has reached after reviewing autopsy photos, the contested suicide notes, and the family's documentation. A family member has separately alleged that the second autopsy was performed by an examiner with GDC affiliation, and that GDC-provided information improperly influenced the findings.

Violence and Gang Activity

In 2026, two correctional officers were stabbed at Rogers State Prison. One officer was stabbed in the back, another in the head, and at least one was transported to a medical facility. GPS records show three distinct sources reporting inmate-on-inmate assault allegations at the facility between May and June 2026, at critical and high severity. The stabbing appears to have triggered an ongoing modified lockdown at the facility, and GPS intelligence from inmate conversations indicates the extended lockdown may reflect punitive measures against the general population rather than a narrowly targeted response. Incarcerated witnesses at Rogers State Prison have alleged that a killing at the facility was carried out by gang members.

This violence sits inside a system-wide pattern GPS has documented extensively. The October 2024 DOJ findings letter concluded that sexual assault is "rampant" in Georgia prisons and that GDC does not reasonably protect incarcerated people from sexual harm. Of 456 sexual-abuse allegations recorded in 2022, only 35 were substantiated — 7.7%. GDC's own consultants 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 DOJ also 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."

Staffing Collapse and Its Consequences

Officer vacancies in Georgia's prisons have run between 49.3% and 60% systemwide for multiple years, against a national standard of no more than 10%. At Valdosta State Prison the rate reached 80% by April 2024. The hiring pipeline cannot close the gap: acceptance rate under 15%, and 82.7% of new hires leave in their first year. Georgia ranks last of 50 states for correctional-officer pay. Former GDC assistant warden Russell Zirkle has stated on the record, in a timestamped interview, that Telfair State Prison and Smith State Prison are among prisons running a 70-80% officer vacancy rate — testimony GPS has published in its reporting on the staffing crisis. Approximately 31% 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.

At Rogers State Prison specifically, GPS records show four distinct sources reporting staffing shortages between May and September 2026, at moderate severity. A formerly incarcerated person reported that the facility was severely understaffed, describing officer conduct as including punitive exercise of authority, refusal to assist, and provocation of prisoners, with requests for help routinely dismissed. The facility's agricultural mission — the farm, dairy, canning plant, and meat production operation — depends on incarcerated labor, a model that becomes more precarious when staffing for supervision collapses.

Food Safety Scores and the Question of What They Capture

The Georgia Department of Public Health has conducted six routine food-safety inspections at Rogers State Prison since August 2023. The scores: 94 (Grade A) in August 2023, 92 (Grade A) in March 2024, 82 (Grade B) in October 2024, 91 (Grade A) in April 2025, 92 (Grade A) in November 2025, and 85 (Grade B) in July 2026. The October 2024 inspection cited improper hot holding temperatures and food labeling issues, among five violations. The July 2026 inspection — the most recent — cited improper cold holding temperatures and surface cleanability issues, among five violations. The other four inspections each cited three to six violations, typically involving utensil storage, plumbing backflow devices, and surface cleanability.

These scores sit in tension with what GPS has documented system-wide. GPS has found a systemic pattern of food-service sanitation failure across GDC kitchens that DPH inspection scores systematically fail to capture: tray-sanitizing dishwashers broken for sustained periods, sustained roach and rodent infestation in kitchen and serving areas, and meals served on visibly contaminated trays. The pattern is hidden from DPH scores because inspections are scheduled walkthroughs that do not assess equipment under load, and because GPS has documented professional overlap between inspectors and facility staff in small-county settings. The Marshall Project independently corroborated the pattern in May 2026, reporting rats in kitchens, insects in food, moldy trays, and visible malnutrition across Georgia facilities.

At Rogers State Prison specifically, GPS has received recurring reports of pests entering the facility building — including accounts of snakes dropping from the ceiling and incarcerated people being forced to trap and kill them. Family members of incarcerated people at the facility have repeatedly alleged inadequate food, with multiple accounts describing insufficient nutrition as an ongoing condition. These accounts align with GPS's systemic finding that GDC spends approximately $1.69 per person per day on food (2024), with a proposed $1.60 per day in FY27 — under 60 cents per meal — versus the FDA Thrifty Food Plan estimate of roughly $10 per day for an adult man's nutritionally adequate diet.

Medical Care and the Denial of Treatment

Family members of incarcerated people at Rogers State Prison have reported a pattern of medical neglect. Multiple accounts describe an incarcerated person experiencing a serious acute medical episode — respiratory distress, chest pain, coughing up blood-like material — and being denied timely medical attention. In at least one account, correctional officers allegedly threatened the person with punitive segregation for continuing to seek medical assistance. Family members also report that mental health counseling is unavailable at the facility, and that work detail opportunities are unavailable.

These reports sit inside a system-wide pattern GPS has documented: the state spends approximately 14 times more on medical care for incarcerated people ($432 million) than on their food. The October 2024 DOJ findings letter concluded that GDC does not reasonably protect incarcerated people from harm, and GPS's systemic analysis treats infrastructure collapse, staffing collapse, and the resulting violence as mutually reinforcing — a force multiplier for the mortality crisis GPS has documented at the facility level.

Settlements and Liability

The Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger records two liability payouts tied to Rogers State Prison. In 2019, the state paid $17,500 to settle a claim by Angelo Lamar Roberson stemming from a 2019 incident at the facility. In 2017, the state paid $75 to settle a claim by Carl Garrett stemming from a 2017 incident. These are small figures in the context of GDC's overall liability exposure, but they document that the state has paid to resolve claims arising from conditions at Rogers State Prison.

Sources

This analysis draws on Georgia Department of Public Health food-safety inspection records; Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledgers obtained through open records; GPS's own mortality database and intelligence records; physical evidence in GPS's possession, including autopsy photos and contested suicide notes; GPS-authored investigative reporting on the classification crisis, staffing collapse, and food-service sanitation failures; the October 2024 DOJ findings letter; the Guidehouse 2024 consultant assessment; on-record testimony from former GDC assistant warden Russell Zirkle; and family and inmate accounts collected by GPS staff.