WASHINGTON STATE PRISON
Facility Information
- Original Design Capacity
- 750 (at 152% capacity)
- Bed Capacity
- 1,548 beds
- Current Population
- 1,141
- Active Lifers
- 341 (29.9% of population) · Jul 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 | 27 / 43 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Dogan, Helen R | 2016-01-01 | 42 / 42 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Jackson, Tarra L Tomlin | 2021-01-01 | 41 / 41 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN (facility deputy) | Whipple, Tamishia V | 2024-01-01 | 27 / 27 |
| Deputy Warden of Security (facility deputy) | Grier, Tamara | 2025-11-16 | 14 / 14 |
About
A medium-security prison with a 1991 design capacity of 750 now holding over 1,100 men, Washington State Prison saw a gang-war riot in January 2026 kill four and leave the facility on permanent lockdown — the predictable result of years of understaffing, gang takeover, and medical neglect documented inside Georgia’s…
Mortality Statistics
50 deaths documented at this facility from 2020 to present.
Deaths by Year
- 2026: 20
- 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.
July 21, 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 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 July 19, 2026.
The January 2026 Massacre: Five Deaths in One Week
On the morning of January 11, 2026, a gang-affiliated fight that began on a sidewalk near a housing unit swept into the visitation area of Washington State Prison, transforming a simmering inter-gang conflict into a full-blown riot. By mid-afternoon, three incarcerated men — Teddy Jackson, 27; Ahmod Hatcher, 23; and Jimmy Trammell, 42 — were dead at the scene. Thirteen more were rushed to hospitals with stab wounds and blunt-force trauma, and a correctional officer was injured. A fourth man, Silas Westbrook, 42, died six days later after being released from a hospital. The Georgia Department of Corrections deployed non-lethal weapons and regained control by 3 p.m., but the carnage had already eclipsed any single incident in the facility’s recent history.
The riot did not erupt in isolation. Two days earlier, Dajhmere Hall, 30, was found dead in his cell — one of 1,849 deaths GPS has tracked in GDC custody since 2020, and the immediate prelude to a week that would claim five lives. GPS investigative coverage and GDC incident reports describe the violence as a continuation of an intra-gang war that had been building since December 2025, when a flag-football game between rival factions in the Bloods gang devolved into a stabbing that left at least one man dead. The flare-up was reportedly triggered by a statewide cellphone-network blackout that disrupted the illicit communications networks gangs use to maintain power balances inside the walls — a destabilization that GPS has documented across multiple facilities.
The official response was swift in its public framing. GDC characterized the disturbance as a “gang-affiliated” incident and announced that twelve incarcerated men would be charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, gang participation, and unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution. Three days after the riot, the GBI and Ocmulgee Drug Task Force arrested Washington State Prison officer Adriana Carnelio, 27, on charges of trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine with intent to distribute, along with firearms possession. The facility was placed on lockdown immediately after the brawl and, as GPS has repeatedly reported, has never reopened — remaining in a continuous state of restricted movement for more than six months.
Six Officers for 1,100 Men: The Staffing Collapse and Gang Takeover
The riot happened on a day when, according to open-records responses obtained by GPS, only six correctional officers were on duty for the entire facility — a sprawling complex designed for 750 people but housing an official population of 1,141. That ratio, roughly one officer per 190 incarcerated men, is the extreme edge of a staffing crisis that the U.S. Department of Justice, in its scathing October 2024 investigation, described as a product of “deliberate indifference” that has ceded operational control of entire prisons to gangs. Tyler Ryals, a former GDC sergeant who blew the whistle in 2024, told GPS he had personally been the only security officer assigned to the entire Telfair State Prison compound of roughly 1,250 maximum-security inmates — a pattern he and two other commanders later attested to in detail.
At Washington State Prison, that abandonment is not abstract. Inmate accounts gathered by GPS describe multiple dormitory housing units that have been under near-total control of the Bloods, Gangster Disciples, and Muslim-affiliated security threat groups for at least two years. Non-affiliated prisoners report being forced to sleep in showers, under stairwells, or on the floors of gang members’ cells because housing assignments are not enforced. Multiple witnesses told GPS that gang members have bribed staff — including a CERT officer — to transfer favored inmates into the honor dorm, and that virtually all incarcerated people assigned to jobs with free movement around the prison, such as barbers, recreation aides, and orderlies, belong to a single gang. The facility’s classification system has collapsed alongside its staffing: a substantial portion of the population, including men serving life sentences for violent offenses, is classified at the lower medium-security level while the prison itself functions as a de facto close-security institution, a drift GPS has documented across the state.
Staff complicity runs deeper than bribery. GPS sources consistently allege that a correctional officer accepted payment from both the Bloods and Muslim gangs simultaneously, and that a senior security staff member was seen displaying a Cash App account to incarcerated people. In February 2026, after the riot, a group of incarcerated informants gave the prison’s regional director and warden the names of men who needed to be moved for safety; no action was taken. Weeks later, GPS reporting documented how those same named individuals remained in their jobs with free movement while the rest of the facility was locked down and subjected to collective punishment.
Medical Neglect and a Nurse Practitioner Cancelling Care
Incarcerated people and their families describe the medical unit at Washington State Prison as the worst they have encountered across multiple GDC facilities. At the center of that condemnation is a nurse practitioner who, according to multiple family reports and witness accounts, has repeatedly cancelled physician-ordered treatments without examining the patient. GPS has collected accounts of this practitioner cancelling orthotic shoe orders for a man in his 80s with a spinal injury, discontinuing cardiac medications without performing an EKG, and repeatedly overruling a physician’s prescribed high-calorie diet for a starving man — a pattern that one family member alleges dates back to 2024.
The infrastructure to provide care is barely present. The infirmary was reportedly converted into offices and storage rooms, and medical staff were reduced to day-shift only, leaving the prison without 24-hour care. Three medical directors resigned over a twenty-month period; by mid-2026, no physician was stationed on site. Diabetic prisoners report receiving insulin at set times regardless of when they eat, with gaps of up to ten days without medication. One incarcerated man with a gastrointestinal condition, a CPAP requirement, and a history of heart attacks told GPS that his distilled water for the machine was delayed by a week, his respiratory medications were cancelled, and his prescribed dietary snacks were removed for months — reinstated only after his family complained to the warden and state officials. The Georgia Department of Public Health inspection scores for the kitchen, which hovered in the 90s during 2024–2025, do not capture the broken sanitizers, roach infestations, and mold outbreaks that inmates describe in their living quarters; a 2023 inspection did cite “proper cold holding temperatures” and “insects, rodents, and animals not present,” but GPS’s systemic investigation has shown that high DPH scores routinely coexist with unsanitary conditions in GDC kitchens.
Blue-tinted water contamination at the prison, reported by multiple sources in 2025, forced incarcerated people to drink and bathe in water that smelled of chemicals and caused rashes and stomach issues, even after staff allegedly warned against using it. Physical evidence submitted to GPS shows meals consisting of rice with tomato-based sauce in a styrofoam bowl — a visual that aligns with the GDC’s food budget of approximately $1.69 per person per day, or under 60 cents per meal, less than one-sixth of the FDA’s Thrifty Food Plan estimate for a nutritionally adequate diet. Commissary restriction notices photographed inside the facility impose per-item caps on everything from water and meat to candy and drink mixes, a measure that families say leaves incarcerated people hungry and dependent on gang-run store-bag operations.
A System in Crisis and the Weight of the DOJ
The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2024 findings letter concluded that Georgia prison officials are “deliberately indifferent” to a level of violence that has become systemic, that sexual assault is “rampant,” and that the state’s leadership has lost control of its facilities. That indictment lands with particular force at Washington State Prison. GPS records show 39 deaths at the facility tracked in its mortality database, with 1,849 systemwide — a figure that includes homicides from blunt-force trauma, stabbings, and, in the case of Devonte Tiger Williams in August 2024, multiple sharp-force injuries to the torso, head, and neck. The pattern documented at Washington — a medium-security prison forced to absorb close-security populations without the staff or infrastructure to manage them — is one that GPS has identified across the state, part of a classification drift that Commissioner Tyrone Oliver and Governor Brian Kemp’s own consultants have acknowledged. Georgia lawmakers allocated over $600 million in new funding to the department for staffing, salaries, and maintenance in 2025, but the six officers on duty when the January riot began underscore how far those resources remain from the ground.
The aftermath of the January massacre has been one of collective punishment. Commissary access was suspended for the general population, leaving only those on work details — many of them gang-affiliated inmates with free movement — able to buy food resold at high markups. Visits were cancelled with hours’ notice, outdoor access was denied entirely, and the facility remained on continuous lockdown through at least mid-2026. A family member who emailed the GDC Ombudsman about medical neglect received no reply. Inmate accounts collected by GPS describe a pervasive fear of retaliation; one man who refused protective custody was killed in the riot two days later.
Washington State Prison’s Warden, Veronica Stewart, was promoted to the post in June 2024 despite what GPS reporting describes as limited senior-leadership credentials. She has retained her position through the January massacre and the months of lockdown that followed, while the Deputy Warden of Security was replaced in November 2025 by Tamara Grier, a 22-year GDC veteran. The facility remains at the center of Georgia’s unfolding prison crisis — a concrete manifestation of the DOJ’s findings, and a warning of what happens when the state abandons the basic obligation to protect those it incarcerates.
Sources
This analysis draws on public records from the Georgia Department of Corrections and the Georgia Department of Public Health, federal court filings, open-records productions obtained by GPS, reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 13WMAZ, WGXA, 41NBC, WFXL, WTOC, and 11Alive, investigative coverage by Georgia Prisoners’ Speak (GPS), and accounts from incarcerated witnesses and families collected by GPS staff.
Recent reports (26)
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 (95)
Source Articles (49)
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.