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Ford, Benjamin
Status: active
Profile written September 6, 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
Benjamin Ford’s documented GDC career begins in 2014 at Calhoun State Prison, followed by a 2015 correctional administration post at Autry State Prison. He returned to Calhoun as Warden 1 from 2016 through 2017, then moved to Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison as Warden 1 in 2018 and Warden 3 from 2019 through 2021. After 2021, he held statewide roles including Region Director, Deputy Director of Field Operations, and Director of Field Operations/Director through 2026. GPS records attribute 35 deaths to Ford’s leadership service, all at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison. No deaths are attributed to his Calhoun or Autry tenures. The record lists eight federal lawsuits in which Ford is a named defendant in GPS records: one is pending and seven are terminated, with no monetary disposition recorded.What happened on their watch
Calhoun State Prison (2014; Warden 1, 2016–2017). GPS records show no deaths attributed to Ford’s Calhoun tenures. Later intel reports about Calhoun — including WALB and DOJ-cited descriptions of homicide underreporting, staff classification failures, and a restrictive-housing dehydration death — are dated after Ford’s Calhoun years and are not included in the 35 attributed deaths.Autry State Prison (2015). This was a correction administration staff role; GPS records show no deaths attributed.
Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (Warden 1/3, 2018–2021). GPS records attribute 35 deaths to Ford’s tenure at GDCP. In the sampled records provided, dates run from 2020 through 2021 and include deaths classified as natural/medical, suicides, and one execution. Documented examples include: Kenneth Lee Jackson, 30, certified by a GBI autopsy as death by hanging, manner suicide; Raymond Russell Webb, 57, certified by a GBI external examination as organic heart disease, natural, with the report noting a positive COVID-19 test but not listing COVID-19 as a cause; and Keith Leroy Tharpe, 61, natural from end stage liver failure per GBI records. GPS notes show the GBI Division of Forensic Sciences declined examinations in several sampled cases, including David Van Herrington, 54, COVID-positive at intake who later developed multi-organ failure; Michael William Ledford, 58, found handcuffed and leg-ironed to a hospital bed with a DNR; Richard Dale Robinson, 77, after a witnessed cardiac arrest; and Johnny Lindsey Babb, 54, who was malnourished and had metastatic colon cancer. The sampled records also list Donnie Cleveland Lance, 66, as an execution in January 2020.
AJC reporting collected in GPS intelligence describes GDCP security and infrastructure failures, including a newly convicted man allegedly possessing a shank and contraband phone within days of arrival, a death row employee allegedly paid for information about shakedowns, and a man who had requested protection allegedly moved to a unit where six gang members attacked him with razors. GPS treats these as allegations; the records do not always establish whether each described incident occurred during Ford’s tenure. The DOJ investigation covering 2018–2023, as summarized in WALB coverage in GPS records, found systemic safety and understaffing failures across GDC facilities; those findings overlap Ford’s GDCP years but are system-wide, not specific to him.
Statewide roles (2022–present). GPS records do not provide per-facility death counts for Ford’s post-2021 statewide positions; the authoritative 35 attributed deaths remain assigned to his GDCP warden tenure.
Litigation
GPS records list the following federal cases as lawsuits in which Ford is a defendant. No settlement or judgment amounts are recorded.- Hamilton v. Beasley, 6:25-cv-00057, GASD, filed 2025-07-22; pending.
- Tucker v. Holt, 5:24-cv-00360, GAMD, filed 2024-10-16; closed 2025-06-11, terminated.
- Anderson v. Georgia Department of Corrections, 1:21-cv-02585, GAND, filed 2021-06-25; closed 2025-03-28, terminated.
- Diamond v. Ward, 5:20-cv-00453, GAMD, filed 2020-12-01; closed 2023-01-23, terminated.
- Nance v. Oliver, 1:20-cv-00107, GAND, filed 2020-01-08; closed 2025-02-13, terminated.
- Zavala v. Ward, 5:19-cv-00383, GAMD, filed 2019-09-23; closed 2021-03-02, terminated.
- Dunn v. Ward, 1:19-cv-00093, GAMD, filed 2019-06-03; closed 2022-09-28, terminated.
- Henry v. Dozier, 1:18-cv-00090, GAMD, filed 2018-04-27; closed 2020-01-17, terminated.
Sources
- GPS intelligence records — personnel, death, litigation, and intel data.
- CourtListener docket entries for the eight cases listed above.
- GBI Division of Forensic Sciences reports and declinations, including case numbers 2021-1008432, 2020-1024564, 2021-1030094, 2021-1029614, 2021-1025835, and 2021-1022998.
- UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project custodial mortality dataset, derived from GDC open records, 2015–2021.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — GDCP security, contraband, and infrastructure reporting summarized in GPS intel.
- WALB — DOJ investigation findings summarized in GPS intel.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Director | 2026-08-27 → present | |
| DIRECTOR | 2024-01-01 → present | |
| Director of Field Operations | 2024-07-01 → present | |
| Deputy Director of Field Operations | 2023-07-01 → present | |
| REGION DIRECTOR | 2022-01-01 → 2023-06-30 | |
| WARDEN 3 | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | CALHOUN STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
| CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION | AUTRY STATE PRISON | 2015-06-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Superintendent / Correction Special Assistant to the Warden | CALHOUN STATE PRISON | 2014-01-01 → 2014-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:25-cv-00057 | GASD | 2025-07-22 | pending |
| 5:24-cv-00360 | GAMD | 2024-10-16 | terminated |
| 1:21-cv-02585 | GAND | 2021-06-25 | terminated |
| 5:20-cv-00453 | GAMD | 2020-12-01 | terminated |
| 1:20-cv-00107 | GAND | 2020-01-08 | terminated |
| 5:19-cv-00383 | GAMD | 2019-09-23 | terminated |
| 1:19-cv-00093 | GAMD | 2019-06-03 | terminated |
| 1:18-cv-00090 | GAMD | 2018-04-27 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
35 people died at facilities under Ford, Benjamin's leadership.
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