Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Ashley, Tonya Ford
Ashley, Tonya Ford
On GDC's 2025 payroll
Profile written September 23, 2026
This profile reflects positional accountability — this individual held the leadership roles shown during the dates shown, during which the listed deaths or lawsuits occurred. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding of personal culpability for any specific incident.
Tenure Summary
Tonya Ford Ashley's state employment record traces a long climb through Georgia's behavioral-health and social-services ranks before she moved into facility administration. She began in 2015 as a Behavioral Health Counselor (salary $34,537.53), moved to Behavioral Health Counselor 2 in 2016, then spent 2017 through 2020 as a Social Services Program Consultant 3. In 2021 she entered the facility-leadership tier as a Deputy Warden, a role she held through 2023 with salary rising from $54,945.04 to $62,117.14. She returned to a non-custodial post, Business Support Analyst 1, from 2024 onward.
Per GPS records, no deaths are attributed to any facility-leadership tenure held by Ashley — the total during her leadership postings is zero, and no decedent list is associated with her file. One federal lawsuit, Sumrall v. Georgia Department of Corrections, names her as a defendant and was pending during her Deputy Warden years.
What happened on their watch
Ashley's only accountability-tier posting in the record is Deputy Warden, 2021 through 2023 (facility_deputy tier). Her earlier roles — behavioral health counselor 2015–2016 and social services program consultant 2017–2020 — and her later Business Support Analyst 1 post (2024–2025, with a further listed 2026 entry) are staff-tier positions.
The positions table does not assign a facility name or facility ID to any of these postings, including the Deputy Warden years. Because no facility is linked to her tenure, GPS records show no facility-specific death totals for her, no intel reports or intel events dated within her leadership tenure, and no news reporting that names her directly. Per-facility death counts therefore cannot be stated for her watch, and no death-category, age, or aggravating-finding patterns are documented in this file.
Litigation
- Sumrall v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 5:21-cv-00187, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Filed June 7, 2021 — during Ashley's first year as Deputy Warden — and terminated April 26, 2023. Ashley is listed as a defendant; no outcome amount is recorded. The docket does not, in this file, specify the underlying claims.
Sources
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia docket, Sumrall v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 5:21-cv-00187 (via CourtListener)
- Georgia Department of Corrections position and salary records for Tonya Ford Ashley, 2015–2026 (GPS personnel file)
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Busi Support Analyst 1 | 2026-08-27 → present | |
| BUSI SUPPORT ANALYST 1 | 2024-01-01 → present | |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | 2021-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | |
| SOCIAL SVCS PRGM CONSULTANT 3 | 2017-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 2 | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | |
| BEH HEALTH/COUNSELOR (WL) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:21-cv-00187 | GAMD | 2021-06-07 | terminated |
Submit a correction
If you are the named individual or an authorized representative and dispute information on this page, submit details below. Substantiated corrections are applied promptly. Disputes that remain unresolved are flagged on the profile.