Foster, Stephen

Tenure Summary

Stephen Foster's documented career with the Georgia Department of Corrections runs from 2015 to the present, moving up through custody and unit-management ranks. The positions table shows him as a corrections officer (SP) in 2015 at an annual salary of $33,452.18, then as a correctional lieutenant from 2016 through 2018, a correctional captain in 2019, a CSM correctional lieutenant in 2020 and 2021, a correctional unit manager in 2022, and a CSM correctional unit manager from 2023 through 2025, with pay rising from $32,824.41 in 2016 to $73,788.03 in 2025. On July 1, 2026, he moved into a facility-leadership tier post: Deputy Warden of Security at Burruss C.T.C, a role the records show him holding with no end date.

One death is attributed to his leadership tenures, and it occurred at Burruss C.T.C. The records contain no lawsuit naming Foster as a defendant.

What happened on their watch

Burruss C.T.C — Deputy Warden of Security, from July 1, 2026 (no end date recorded). Ashley Lloyd Neesmith died July 15, 2026, at Burruss C.T.C, two weeks into Foster's tenure as Deputy Warden of Security; GPS's registry lists the cause as Accident and the age at death as 50. Neesmith is the only decedent recorded during Foster's leadership tenure, and Burruss C.T.C is the only facility carrying an attributed death.

Also during that tenure, a relayed group report dated September 17, 2026, and held in GPS's case submissions, indicated that Burruss C.T.C was off lockdown but under limited movement, with only outside details being released while meal service continued as normal. That report is an inmate-sourced account, not a GDC statement, and no publication is credited as its source.

Earlier positions (no facility recorded). The records list Foster as a corrections officer (SP) in 2015; a correctional lieutenant in 2016, 2017 and 2018; a correctional captain in 2019; a CSM correctional lieutenant in 2020 and 2021; a correctional unit manager in 2022; and a CSM correctional unit manager in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The records also carry two single-day CSM Correctional Unit Manager entries at the Special Management Unit, dated November 22, 2023, and August 27, 2026. No deaths are attributed to these postings, and no intel reports or events are recorded against them in the input.

Sources

• GPS Death Registry — Ashley Lloyd Neesmith, died July 15, 2026, at Burruss C.T.C; cause listed as Accident, age 50.
• GPS case submissions — inmate report dated September 17, 2026, describing limited movement and restricted outside-detail releases at Burruss C.T.C.
• Georgia Department of Corrections personnel and salary records — Foster's position titles, tiers, dates and annual salaries from 2015 through 2026, including the Deputy Warden of Security appointment at Burruss C.T.C effective July 1, 2026.

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.