Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Edwards, Deidra M
Edwards, Deidra M
Not on GDC's 2025 payroll (last listed 2024)
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
Deidra M. Edwards' documented career with Georgia corrections runs from 2003 to the present, moving between custody, behavioral health, program administration, and facility command. The earliest listed post is Correctional Officer at Georgia State Prison (2003), followed by Behavioral Health Counselor at Rogers State Prison (2014), Senior Counselor (2017) and Chief Counselor (2018, a programs specialty lead) at Montgomery State Prison, and Behavioral Health Counselor Supervisor at Georgia State Prison (2019) and at an unlisted facility (2020). She was Deputy Warden at Smith Transitional Center in 2021, then served as Social Services Program Consultant 3 in 2022 and at Coastal State Prison in 2023, before becoming CSM Correctional Unit Manager at Coastal State Prison (Nov. 22, 2023 listing; Jan. 1–Oct. 31, 2024 salary year). She was Assistant Superintendent at Smith Transitional Center from Nov. 1, 2024 to July 15, 2025, and is listed as Superintendent at Smith Transitional Center from May 1, 2025, with the two Smith postings overlapping on the record.
Across all facilities, state personnel data compiled by GPS attribute zero deaths to any leadership-tier posting Edwards has held. Her file contains no intel reports or intel events dated inside her leadership tenures, and no news reports naming her.
What happened on their watch
Smith Transitional Center — Deputy Warden (2021). No deaths are attributed to this posting, and no intel reports or events dated within it name her.
Coastal State Prison — CSM Correctional Unit Manager (Nov. 2023 – Oct. 2024). No deaths are attributed to this posting; no intel reports or events within this window are recorded against her.
Smith Transitional Center — Assistant Superintendent (Nov. 1, 2024 – July 15, 2025). No deaths are attributed to this posting; no intel reports or events dated within it are recorded.
Smith Transitional Center — Superintendent (from May 1, 2025). No deaths are attributed to this posting; no intel reports or events dated within it are recorded.
The intervening and earlier periods — Correctional Officer (2003), Behavioral Health Counselor (2014), Senior Counselor (2017), Chief Counselor (2018), Behavioral Health Counselor Supervisor (2019, 2020), and Social Services Program Consultant 3 (2022, 2023) — are non-leadership roles. GPS's data carries no incident, intel, or death coverage for those periods; only the titles and dates are documented.
Litigation
Court records list Edwards as a defendant in three federal cases. The dockets provided do not describe the claims or her alleged role, and none of the lead case names is hers; no outcome amounts are recorded.
- Middleton v. Ward, No. 5:21-cv-00334 (M.D. Ga.), filed Sept. 10, 2021; terminated Mar. 9, 2022. Filed while she held Deputy Warden at Smith Transitional Center.
- Canning v. Jackson, No. 6:22-cv-00038 (S.D. Ga.), filed May 25, 2022; terminated Nov. 2, 2023. Filed while she was listed as Social Services Program Consultant 3 at an unlisted facility.
- Martin v. Holt, No. 5:23-cv-00004 (M.D. Ga.), filed Jan. 4, 2023; pending. Filed while she was listed as Social Services Program Consultant 3 at Coastal State Prison.
Sources
- CourtListener — dockets 66709215 (Martin v. Holt), 63346335 (Canning v. Jackson), 60379926 (Middleton v. Ward)
- Georgia Department of Corrections personnel and salary records, as compiled by Georgia Prisoners' Speak
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Superintendent | SMITH TRANSITIONAL CENTER | 2025-05-01 → present |
| Assistant Superintendent | SMITH TRANSITIONAL CENTER | 2024-11-01 → 2025-07-15 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-10-31 |
| CSM Correctional Unit Manager | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| SOCIAL SVCS PRGM CONSULTANT 3 | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| SOCIAL SVCS PRGM CONSULTANT 3 | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 | |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | SMITH TRANSITIONAL CENTER | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR SPV | 2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR SPV | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 |
| Chief Counselor | MONTGOMERY STATE PRISON | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| Senior Counselor | MONTGOMERY STATE PRISON | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
| Behavioral Health Counselor | ROGERS STATE PRISON | 2014-01-01 → 2014-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2003-01-01 → 2003-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:23-cv-00004 | GAMD | 2023-01-04 | pending |
| 6:22-cv-00038 | GASD | 2022-05-25 | terminated |
| 5:21-cv-00334 | GAMD | 2021-09-10 | terminated |
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