Ford, Benjamin

Tenure Summary

Benjamin Ford's career with the Georgia Department of Corrections runs from a 2014 post at Calhoun State Prison through facility-leadership roles and into statewide administration. After a 2015 staff-tier assignment at Autry State Prison (CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION, June 1–December 31, 2015), he became WARDEN 1 at Calhoun State Prison for 2016 and 2017, then moved to Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (GDCP), where he served as WARDEN 1 in 2018 and as WARDEN 3 from 2019 through 2021. From 2022 he held non-facility posts — REGION DIRECTOR (2022 through June 30, 2023), Deputy Director of Field Operations (from July 1, 2023), DIRECTOR (January–June 2024), Director of Field Operations (from July 1, 2024), DIRECTOR for 2025, and a Director entry dated August 27, 2026. His status is active.

34 deaths are attributed to his leadership tenures, all of them at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, per the attributed-death figures. No deaths are attributed to his Calhoun State Prison tenures. Court records list him as a defendant in eight federal cases; none shows a recorded outcome amount.

What happened on their watch

Calhoun State Prison — Superintendent / Correction Special Assistant to the Warden, 2014; WARDEN 1, 2016 and 2017. The attributed-death figures record no deaths at Calhoun State Prison during these tenures; all 34 attributed deaths are recorded at GDCP. At Autry State Prison he held a staff-tier CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION post from June 1 to December 31, 2015, at a listed salary of $53,427.60.

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — WARDEN 1, 2018; WARDEN 3, 2019–2021. This is the posting that carries the attributed deaths: 34 at this facility. GPS's death registry names, among those who died during this tenure:

• Benjamin Lamar Bowles died October 2, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 46.
• David Van Herrington died September 13, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 54.
• Michael William Ledford died September 8, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 58.
• Richard Dale Robinson died August 4, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 77.
• Jonathan Lynn Revels died July 20, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 50.
• Johnny Lindsey Babb died July 8, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 54.
• Jeffery Ray Phillips died May 27, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 54.
• Richard Allan South died April 23, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 65.
• Dennis Michael Queen died April 16, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 56.
• Larry Gene Phelps died April 4, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 44.
• Russell Leroy Painter died March 25, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 63.
• Kenneth Lee Jackson died March 15, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide, age 30.
• Derrick Calloway died March 1, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 57.
• Alvin Nelson died February 13, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 70.
• Juan Daniel Martinez died January 7, 2021, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 43.
• Brian Richard Hall died November 25, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 39.
• Michael Joseph Leblanc died November 7, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide, age 42.
• Raymond Russell Webb died September 28, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 57.
• Geriga Scott died August 2, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 62.
• Nicholas Walker died July 23, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 34.
• John Francis Reilly died July 16, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 40.
• Tony Wesley Teal died May 24, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide, age 30.
• William J Pierce died May 18, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 88.
• Cecil Johnson died May 14, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 65.
• Joe Quick died May 10, 2020, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 54.

Among these registry entries the causes are Natural/Medical for 18, Suicide for 3, and Unknown/Pending for 4; ages range from 30 to 88. Separately, a 2018 event record for GDCP — when Ford held WARDEN 1 — states that officer Vera Jackson admitted she was paid several thousand dollars to provide death row inmate Eric Perkinson with information on upcoming shakedowns and pleaded guilty to violating her oath, receiving five years' probation, according to that record.

Non-facility posts, 2022 onward. No facility appears with attributed deaths for these roles. The records list REGION DIRECTOR for 2022 and through June 30, 2023; Deputy Director of Field Operations from July 1, 2023; DIRECTOR from January 1 to June 30, 2024; Director of Field Operations from July 1, 2024; DIRECTOR for 2025; and a Director entry dated August 27, 2026.

Litigation

Court records list Benjamin Ford as a defendant in the following cases:

• Hamilton v. Beasley, No. 6:25-cv-00057 (GASD), filed July 22, 2025 — pending.
• Tucker v. Holt, No. 5:24-cv-00360 (GAMD), filed October 16, 2024 — terminated June 11, 2025.
• Anderson v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 1:21-cv-02585 (GAND), filed June 25, 2021 — terminated March 28, 2025.
• Diamond v. Ward, No. 5:20-cv-00453 (GAMD), filed December 1, 2020 — terminated January 23, 2023.
• Nance v. Oliver, No. 1:20-cv-00107 (GAND), filed January 8, 2020 — terminated February 13, 2025.
• Zavala v. Ward, No. 5:19-cv-00383 (GAMD), filed September 23, 2019 — terminated March 2, 2021.
• Dunn v. Ward, No. 1:19-cv-00093 (GAMD), filed June 3, 2019 — terminated September 28, 2022.
• Henry v. Dozier, No. 1:18-cv-00090 (GAMD), filed April 27, 2018 — terminated January 17, 2020.

No outcome amounts are recorded for any of these cases.

Sources

• CourtListener dockets — case records for Hamilton v. Beasley, Tucker v. Holt, Anderson v. Georgia Department of Corrections, Diamond v. Ward, Nance v. Oliver, Zavala v. Ward, Dunn v. Ward, and Henry v. Dozier.
• Georgia Prisoners' Speak death registry — cause, date, facility and age entries for the deaths listed above at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison.
• Georgia Prisoners' Speak event record — 2018 guilty plea by officer Vera Jackson at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 11, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.