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Copenhaver, Lenard M
Status: active
Profile written August 16, 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
Lenard M. Copenhaver has held Georgia Department of Corrections positions since at least 2015, starting as a Business Operation Specialist, then Administrative Assistant Supervisor in 2016, Correctional Assistant Superintendent from 2017 through 2020, and Correctional Superintendent from 2021 through 2025. The only facility-level leadership postings with a named facility in GPS records are at Valdosta Transitional Center: Superintendent from September 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022, and Correctional Superintendent listed for calendar year 2025. GPS records attribute one death to a facility-leader tenure held by Copenhaver, at Valdosta Transitional Center. The records list no lawsuits naming Copenhaver as a defendant.
What happened on their watch
The 2015–2020 positions in GPS records either lack a named facility or fall below the facility-lead tier, so no facility-specific deaths are tied to those years in the supplied data.
Valdosta Transitional Center, September 1, 2021 – December 31, 2022 (Superintendent). GPS records show Devante Jerry Daniels, age 30, died on December 24, 2022, while Copenhaver was listed as Superintendent at Valdosta Transitional Center. The death record classifies the case under cause category 6 and provides no narrative notes. This is the single death included in the total of one attributed for this tenure. A GPS intel event record describes an escape from Valdosta Transitional Center in October 2022 and states that GDC issued no news release; the record’s date field is listed as January 28, 2026, while the description places the incident in October 2022. No intel reports at the facility and no lawsuits naming Copenhaver were associated with this posting in the dataset.
Valdosta Transitional Center, 2025 (Correctional Superintendent). GPS records list no deaths attributed to this posting.
Sources
- GPS personnel records — positions and salary history for Lenard M. Copenhaver.
- GPS deaths-in-custody records — death attributed to Valdosta Transitional Center on December 24, 2022.
- GPS intel event record — described escape at Valdosta Transitional Center, October 2022; record dated January 28, 2026.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | VALDOSTA TRANSITIONAL CENTER | 2025-01-01 → present |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | 2021-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | |
| Correctional Superintendent | VALDOSTA TRANSITIONAL CENTER | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| Superintendent | VALDOSTA TRANSITIONAL CENTER | 2021-09-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT | 2017-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| ADMIN ASSISTANT SPV | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | |
| BUSINESS OPERATION SPEC(SP) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
1 people died at facilities under Copenhaver, Lenard M's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-12-24 | DEVANTE JERRY DANIELS | 30 | VALDOSTA TRANSITIONAL CENTER | Superintendent |
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