Carter, Curtis

Tenure Summary

Curtis Carter's GDC career spans nearly two decades, beginning with a Special Management Unit CERT team assignment in 2008 and passing through a 2010 lieutenant posting at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, correctional operations duties in 2015, and CSM correctional captain posts at GDCP (2016–2018) and Burruss Correctional Training Center (2019). He entered facility leadership as deputy warden at Burruss from 2020 through 2023, then served as warden at Autry State Prison (February 2024 – July 15, 2025) before taking the warden's post at Valdosta State Prison (July 16, 2025 – May 31, 2026). The records also list a Valdosta warden entry dated from early 2025 alongside his Autry tenure, and a single-date Warden 3 record at GDCP dated August 27, 2026.

Per GPS records, 17 deaths are attributed to facilities during Carter's leadership tenures: 14 at Valdosta State Prison, 2 at Autry State Prison, and 1 at Burruss CTC. Thirteen of the 17 are recorded under the same cause category (code 6); three are coded cause 3 and one cause 1. No lawsuit in the records names Carter as a defendant.

What happened on their watch

Burruss C.T.C — Deputy Warden (2020–2023). One death is attributed to this posting: Robert Carey Seymour, 58, who died March 9, 2022, coded cause 6. No intel reports or lawsuits in these records are indexed to this posting.

Autry State Prison — Warden (February 2024 – July 15, 2025). Two deaths fall within this tenure: Alerick Campbell, 56, on December 22, 2024, and Harvey Jack Woodard, 69, on May 8, 2025, both coded cause 6. Intel events dated to this wardenship concern Legionella contamination of the facility's water system, an inmate diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease in 2021, and Autry's June 2023 closure for plumbing and HVAC repairs — underlying facts that predate Carter's arrival at the facility.

Valdosta State Prison — Warden (2025 – May 31, 2026). Fourteen deaths are attributed to this tenure, the youngest 21 and the oldest 66: William Stacey Springer, 36 (Sept. 16, 2025); Garrett Paul Schmidt, 40 (Sept. 21, 2025); Paul Hampton, 66 (Oct. 12, 2025); Arthur Nekita Burks, 61 (Nov. 28, 2025); Jessie James Kilgore, 56 (Dec. 23, 2025); Jevion Andrez Benham, 21 (Dec. 24, 2025); Dequontist Marquez Lucas, 41 (Dec. 25, 2025); Ronnie Jackson, 62 (Feb. 15, 2026); Sergio Hernandez, 39 (Feb. 26, 2026); Robert Louis Johnson, 60 (March 8, 2026); Robert Jordan Watkins, 38 (March 18, 2026); Dontarious Lamonta Burke, 23 (April 19, 2026); Jeremiah Alan Brown, 40 (May 26, 2026); and Kevin James Flamer, 26 (May 28, 2026).

Several of those deaths drew public scrutiny. WTOC reported that coroner Austin Fiveash criticized the two-day delay in discovering Benham's body, which he ruled a strangulation homicide, as a major security concern. WALB reported that Springer was stabbed multiple times in the face and head, that inmates alleged staff did not respond for several hours, and that his family says GDC never contacted them after the attack. A Yahoo.com report dated May 27, 2026 describes a task force investigation opened in July 2025 into Luis Ramirez, an inmate accused of directing a methamphetamine and fentanyl network from Valdosta using contraband cellphones; seven people were indicted and authorities seized 35 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine, 3.5 kilograms of suspected fentanyl, and $145,000. Records also list gang-related fights at Valdosta, Smith, Wilcox and Hays state prisons on April 1–2, 2026 that sent five inmates to hospitals.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution report of March 30, 2026 concerns a federal judge sanctioning GDC for destroying video evidence in bad faith and sanctioning officer Angela Butler for lying under oath in Haley Mackrell's suit over Hakeem Williams' 2022 stabbing death at Valdosta. That suit, filed in January 2024, names Butler, not Carter; the underlying death occurred before his Valdosta posting.

Sources

• GPS personnel and death records — Curtis Carter positions, 17 attributed deaths, and decedent details
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — March 30, 2026 report on federal sanctions, destroyed video evidence, and the Mackrell suit
• WTOC — December 26, 2025 report on Je'Vion Benham and coroner criticism
• WALB — September 18, 2025 report on William Springer's stabbing and family statements
• Yahoo.com — May 27, 2026 report on the Ramirez drug-trafficking indictment
• U.S. District Court (via Atlanta Journal-Constitution) — sanctions ruling in the Williams/Mackrell litigation

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 23, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.