Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Emmons, Shawn F
Emmons, Shawn F
Status: active
Profile written September 6, 2026
Current Position
Assistant Director For The Southwest Region
Salary
$112,500
2025 · state payroll
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
Shawn F. Emmons’s GPS record shows a long Georgia Department of Corrections command trajectory. He appears as Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment in 2013, in correction administration at Johnson State Prison in 2015, Warden 1 at Johnson State Prison in 2016, and Warden 1 at Wilcox State Prison in 2017. From July 2018 through February 2022 he held warden posts at Valdosta State Prison; from January 2022 through June 2023 at Hays State Prison; and from January 2023 through July 15, 2025 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, with an administrative overlap between Hays and GDCP in early 2023. He then became Assistant Director for the Southwest Region on July 16, 2025, and is later listed as Assistant Region Director.GPS records attribute 62 deaths to facility-leader tenures held by Emmons: 38 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, 15 at Valdosta State Prison, and 9 at Hays State Prison. The dataset does not list Johnson State Prison or Wilcox State Prison among the facilities with deaths attributed to his leadership postings.
What happened on their watch
Valdosta State Prison (July 2018 – February 2022)
GPS records attribute 15 deaths during Emmons’s warden tenure at Valdosta. The sample includes Hakeem Olajuwon Williams, 27, who died Feb. 28, 2022; according to the AJC’s Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation, his death was caused by a stab wound to the chest. Other names in the sample with AJC-documented sharp-force causes include Bobby Lane Carpenter, 31, on Sept. 9, 2020; Orvonta Casmir Tillman, 36, on June 16, 2020; and Prince Blige, 54, on Feb. 12, 2020. Later federal litigation centered on Williams’s death: a lawsuit alleged an officer placed a handcuffed Williams in a cell with an unrestrained, unsearched cellmate, and in 2026 a federal judge sanctioned GDC for destroying video of the stabbing and sanctioned the officer for lying under oath, according to court records and AJC coverage. While at Valdosta, Emmons was named in Martin v. Emmons, filed Oct. 3, 2018, and Battle v. Emmons, filed June 4, 2020.Hays State Prison (January 2022 – June 2023)
GPS records attribute 9 deaths during Emmons’s Hays tenure. The sample includes Quintez Deshon Smith, 25, who died Aug. 29, 2022; the AJC investigation lists his cause of death as multiple sharp force injuries. Other deaths in the sample are recorded without additional notes in the underlying GPS file. Emmons was named in Burns v. Emmons, filed April 8, 2022 in the Middle District of Georgia, during this posting.Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (January 2023 – July 15, 2025)
GPS records attribute 38 deaths during Emmons’s GDCP postings. The sample includes multiple suicide rulings documented in GBI medical examiner records obtained by GPS: Rodriquez Demorris Garrett, 30; Christopher Shawn Burnett, 37; and Timothy Todd Holbrook, 34 — all recorded as suicide by hanging. John Arthur Gilstrap, 45, was recorded as natural, with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. The sample also includes Brandon Trace Burrell, 31, who died Jan. 28, 2024 and is listed in the AJC homicide tracker; the AJC reports he was assaulted by another inmate while under the effects of methamphetamine. Emmons was named in Daker v. Emmons, filed Sept. 22, 2023 in the Northern District of Georgia.Litigation
The following cases appear in the person’s litigation record:- Miller v. Holt, 5:25-cv-00356, GAMD, filed 2025-08-25, pending.
- Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, 1:25-cv-03191, GAND, filed 2025-06-06, terminated 2026-03-30.
- Daker v. Oliver, 1:24-cv-02687, GAND, filed 2024-06-20, pending.
- Pace v. Oliver, 1:24-cv-01557, GAND, filed 2024-04-12, terminated 2024-09-13.
- Pye v. Oliver, 3:24-cv-00048, GAND, filed 2024-03-11, terminated 2024-03-15.
- Daker v. Emmons, 4:23-cv-00213, GAND, filed 2023-09-22, terminated 2024-02-20.
- Burns v. Emmons, 7:22-cv-00036, GAMD, filed 2022-04-08, terminated 2022-12-05.
- Battle v. Emmons, 7:20-cv-00106, GAMD, filed 2020-06-04, terminated 2022-09-30.
- Nance v. Oliver, 1:20-cv-00107, GAND, filed 2020-01-08, terminated 2025-02-13.
- Martin v. Emmons, 1:18-cv-04617, GAND, filed 2018-10-03, pending.
- Towry v. Stacey Nicholson, 2:15-cv-00172, GAND, filed 2015-08-17, terminated 2017-10-25.
- Gumm v. Jacobs, 5:15-cv-00041, GAMD, filed 2015-02-12, terminated 2019-05-07.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation and related prison death/security coverage.
- GBI Medical Examiner records obtained by GPS via open records request — suicide-by-hanging and natural-cause determinations for GDCP deaths.
- U.S. District Court dockets, Georgia Northern and Middle Districts — case filings and terminations.
- GPS structured personnel and mortality records — total deaths attributed, per-facility counts, individual decedents, and position history.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Region Director | 2026-08-27 → present | |
| Assistant Director for the Southwest Region | 2025-07-16 → present | |
| WARDEN 3 | 2025-01-01 → present | |
| WARDEN 3 | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| Warden 3 | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| Warden | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2023-07-01 → 2025-07-15 |
| Warden | HAYS STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-06-30 |
| WARDEN 3 | HAYS STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| Warden | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2022-02-28 |
| WARDEN 3 | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2018-07-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | JOHNSON STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION | JOHNSON STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment | 2013-01-01 → 2013-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:25-cv-00356 | GAMD | 2025-08-25 | pending |
| 1:25-cv-03191 | GAND | 2025-06-06 | terminated |
| 1:24-cv-02687 | GAND | 2024-06-20 | pending |
| 1:24-cv-01557 | GAND | 2024-04-12 | terminated |
| 3:24-cv-00048 | GAND | 2024-03-11 | terminated |
| 4:23-cv-00213 | GAND | 2023-09-22 | terminated |
| 7:22-cv-00036 | GAMD | 2022-04-08 | terminated |
| 7:20-cv-00106 | GAMD | 2020-06-04 | terminated |
| 1:20-cv-00107 | GAND | 2020-01-08 | terminated |
| 1:18-cv-04617 | GAND | 2018-10-03 | pending |
| 2:15-cv-00172 | GAND | 2015-08-17 | terminated |
| 5:15-cv-00041 | GAMD | 2015-02-12 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
62 people died at facilities under Emmons, Shawn F's leadership.
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