Burks, Letetia Shanta

Tenure Summary

Letetia Shanta Burks has held facility-leadership roles in the Georgia Department of Corrections since at least 2018. She served as Deputy Warden at Rutledge State Prison from 2018 through at least 2023 (and likely into 2024, though GPS records for that year lack a facility assignment), and was promoted to Warden 1 at Lee State Prison effective January 1, 2025. According to GPS records, a total of 11 deaths are attributed to facilities during her leadership tenures: 10 at Rutledge and 1 at Lee. During her time as Deputy Warden at Rutledge, two deaths were classified as homicides by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation, and the state paid a $395,000 liability settlement for one of those deaths. No lawsuits name Burks as a defendant.

What happened on their watch

Rutledge State Prison (Deputy Warden, 2018–2023+)

Allegations of systemic issues surfaced during this period. A lawsuit filed by Curtis Mincey’s sister in January 2025 alleged he suffered from mental illness and did not receive appropriate medical or psychological assistance at Rutledge. Separately, the AJC reported that a sergeant at Rutledge admitted to providing contraband to prisoners in exchange for money. The state settled a liability claim for $395,000 tied to Andrew Campbell’s 2020 death, and a $20,000 settlement for an incident involving Amber Brejae Walker in 2024, though Walker’s case is not linked to a death in GPS records.

Lee State Prison (Warden 1, 2025–present)

Litigation

• Curtis Mincey family lawsuit (filed January 21, 2025): Mincey’s sister alleged that he suffered from mental illness and did not receive appropriate medical or psychological care before his July 2021 death at Rutledge. No court or case number is provided in GPS records.
• State liability settlement — Andrew Campbell (2020 incident, paid 2020): The Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management ledger records a $395,000 payout connected to Campbell’s death at Rutledge State Prison, while Burks was Deputy Warden.
• State liability settlement — Amber Brejae Walker (2024 incident, paid June 19, 2024): A $20,000 payout tied to Rutledge State Prison. The settlement is not linked to a death record in GPS data.

Sources

• GPS custodial mortality records and personnel database
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (homicide determinations for Nichols, Mincey; contraband allegation at Rutledge)
• UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project — custodial mortality dataset obtained from GDC via open records request (natural/suicide coding for 2020–2021 deaths)
• Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — liability payouts for Campbell and Walker
• Associated Press / news event aggregator — March 2026 incident reports affecting Lee State Prison

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 9, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.