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Foulks, Rodney
Status: active
Profile written June 7, 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
Rodney Foulks’s career with the Georgia Department of Corrections began in 2015 as a correctional officer at Valdosta State Prison. Over the next decade he advanced through sergeant and lieutenant posts at Georgia State Prison, then unit manager roles at Valdosta and Smith State Prisons, before being promoted to Deputy Warden at Smith State Prison in 2024. As of 2026, Foulks serves as Special Assistant to the Warden at Valdosta State Prison. GPS records attribute seven deaths to his leadership tenure — all occurring during his two-year stint as Deputy Warden at Smith. Two lawsuits name Foulks as a defendant, one of which is an active federal civil rights action. His watch at Smith coincided with severe understaffing, rampant contraband, a fatal shooting, and a wide-ranging racketeering scandal that later led to the indictment of the warden he served under.What happened on their watch
Georgia State Prison, Sergeant & Lieutenant (2017–2018)
Foulks held supervisory roles at Georgia State Prison for two years. No deaths are attributed to this period in GPS records. The facility had once operated under a 13‑year federal consent decree stemming from Guthrie v. Evans, but those reforms had been dismantled before Foulks’s arrival.Valdosta State Prison, Unit Manager (2019–2022)
Returning to Valdosta as a unit manager, Foulks served four years without any deaths attributed to his tenure. Intel reports later documented widespread contraband trafficking, inmate‑directed drug operations, and a series of homicides at the prison, but those incidents postdate his unit‑manager years.Smith State Prison, Unit Manager (2023)
Foulks’s first year at Smith was as a unit manager; no deaths were reported during that interval.Smith State Prison, Deputy Warden (2024–2025)
All seven deaths GPS records attribute to Foulks occurred while he was the facility’s second‑in‑command. In chronological order:* Feb. 4, 2024 – Donquerius Lamonte Mahone, 37, died in a homicide, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s prison homicides investigation.
* Feb. 9, 2024 – Gineli Antoine Gray, 31, died; the manner is listed as cause category 6 (pending/undetermined).
* June 16, 2024 – Jaydrekus Cartez Hart, 34, took his own life after shooting and killing Aramark food service worker Aureon Shavea Grace inside the prison kitchen. A federal lawsuit filed by Grace’s family alleged staff had been warned about a gun on the premises but failed to act.
* Sept. 7, 2024 – Richard Jermine Williams, 43, died (cause category 6).
* Sept. 13, 2024 – Orlando Jordan, 36, died (cause category 6).
* Dec. 14, 2024 – Calvin Bernard Craft, 34, died (cause category 6).
* Oct. 25, 2025 – John Jacobs, 77, died of cardiorespiratory arrest from natural causes at an outside hospital. The Tattnall County deputy coroner’s report noted that Jacobs’s death received no independent scene review and urged transparent third‑party examinations of all custodial deaths.
During Foulks’s deputy warden tenure, Smith State Prison was documented as one of the most violent and understaffed facilities in Georgia. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Marshall Project reported that two‑thirds of correctional officer positions were unfilled, leaving as few as 53 officers for a prison designed for 160. Former staff described being the sole officer responsible for 600 incarcerated men, with no functioning fire extinguishers. Contraband cell phones were widespread, and inmate Nathan Weekes — who prosecutors say ran a multimillion‑dollar contraband enterprise — allegedly orchestrated multiple murders from inside the prison. The warden, Brian Adams, was later indicted on RICO and bribery counts for allegedly accepting cash payments in the scheme. A grand jury returned a true bill against Adams in May 2026, after Foulks had left the deputy warden role.
Litigation
- Humphrey v. Moody (7:24-cv-00006, M.D. Ga., filed Jan. 22, 2024) — Foulks is a named defendant in this pending federal civil rights suit. No disposition has been reached.
- Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order (1:25-cv-03191, N.D. Ga., filed June 6, 2025, terminated March 30, 2026) — A filing‑restriction case; no monetary award.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — homicide investigations, understaffing and contraband reporting at Smith State Prison
- Yahoo.com — drug trafficking allegations linked to Valdosta State Prison
- The Georgia Virtue — indictment of former Smith Warden Brian Adams and related racketeering allegations
- WTOC — sexual assault charge against a former Smith State Prison employee
- The Marshall Project — extreme understaffing and dangerous conditions at Smith State Prison
- WALB — inmate attack and family notification claims at Valdosta State Prison
- CourtListener — dockets for Humphrey v. Moody and Daker v. Oliver
- GPS records — personnel data, death attribution totals, facility event logs
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Special Assistant to the Warden | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2026-05-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → present |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL SERGEANT | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL OFFICER 2 | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER(WL) | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:25-cv-03191 | GAND | 2025-06-06 | terminated |
| 7:24-cv-00006 | GAMD | 2024-01-22 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
7 people died at facilities under Foulks, Rodney's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-10-25 | JOHN JACOBS | 77 | SMITH STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2024-12-14 | CALVIN BERNARD CRAFT | 34 | SMITH STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2024-09-13 | ORLANDO JORDAN | 36 | SMITH STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2024-09-07 | RICHARD JERMINE WILLIAMS | 43 | SMITH STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2024-06-16 | JAYDREKUS CARTEZ HART | 34 | SMITH STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2024-02-09 | GINELI ANTOINE GRAY | 31 | SMITH STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2024-02-04 | DONQUERIUS LAMONTE MAHONE | 37 | SMITH STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
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