Hudson, Charles Leonard

Tenure Summary

Charles Leonard Hudson began his career with the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2007 as a Correctional Officer at Macon State Prison, then rose through uniformed ranks — correctional officer, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and unit manager — over the next seventeen years. In August 2024, Hudson entered leadership-tier accountability when he was named Deputy Warden of Security at Dooly State Prison; he became the facility’s Deputy Warden in January 2025. GPS records attribute 14 deaths to Dooly State Prison during Hudson’s deputy‑warden tenure, which ran from August 16, 2024 through December 31, 2025. No deaths are attributed to his earlier staff-level postings at Macon State Prison, and none have been reported since he was appointed Warden at Calhoun State Prison on June 1, 2026. Hudson is also named as a defendant in several federal lawsuits, though the cases do not appear to relate to his correctional duties.

What happened on their watch

Deputy Warden, Dooly State Prison (August 2024 – December 2025)

According to GPS data, 14 incarcerated people died at Dooly State Prison while Hudson held the Deputy Warden of Security or Deputy Warden posts. The deaths occurred between September 26, 2024, and November 16, 2025, and involved people from age 25 to 75. At least four deaths were classified as homicides: Joshua Parrott, 45, died by strangulation; Horario Philmore, 58, was killed (the death record notes “Homocide”); Darrow Brown, 58, was reportedly killed by a gang member while being escorted back to his building, according to a user report received by GPS; and Zeary Davante Davis, 31, died in a homicide — a witness report stated that Davis bled to death on the dormitory floor. One death, that of Timothy Glenn Williams, 56, was listed as natural/drug overdose. The remaining nine deaths — Ancion Wallace, 25; Thomas Chamblee, 32; David Smith, 53; Michael Hutchins, 75; Paul Counts, 60; Willie Mote, 70; Marshall Davis Crews, 69; Orlando Perez Glass, 49; and Dexter Andres Levy, 32 — were recorded under cause category 6, which GPS records do not detail further.

During this period, Dooly State Prison was operating far above its original design capacity and grappling with severe staffing shortages. A GPS report noted that as of early 2026 the facility held 1,593 incarcerated people — more than double its design capacity of 750 — while statewide correctional-officer vacancies averaged 50 percent. While Hudson was deputy warden, a corrections officer cadet, Julius Deshawn Williams Jr., was arrested in December 2025 after a routine search found 640 grams of pure methamphetamine he intended to smuggle into the prison. Hudson himself was bitten on the thumb by an inmate inside the facility on December 8, 2025, while assisting in placing the person in handcuffs; he was treated at the facility.

Warden, Calhoun State Prison (June 2026 – present)

Hudson assumed the wardenship of Calhoun State Prison in June 2026. No deaths have been attributed to the facility during his tenure as of the latest GPS records. Calhoun State Prison has been the subject of prior federal scrutiny — a U.S. Department of Justice investigation documented a 2023 death from dehydration in restrictive housing and a 2022 homicide that was tied to classification failures — but those events predate Hudson’s appointment.

Litigation

GPS records list six federal cases naming a Charles Hudson as a defendant. All are terminated. The subject matter of these cases is not detailed in the provided data, and it is unclear whether any are connected to Hudson’s GDC employment.

• Williams v. Hudson, No. 1:11-cv-03542 (N.D. Ga.), filed October 18, 2011, closed April 24, 2014.
• Castillo v. Building Cleaning Solutions Inc., No. 1:10-cv-03194 (N.D. Ga.), filed October 5, 2010, closed September 22, 2011 (Hudson appears as a defendant; the case did not involve the GDC).
• Conroy v. Amos, No. 4:18-cv-00033 (M.D. Ga.), filed February 12, 2018, closed September 4, 2018.
• Rogers v. Gray Transportation Inc., No. 5:18-cv-00200 (M.D. Ga.), filed June 4, 2018, closed April 21, 2020.
• Starstone National Insurance Company v. Hudson, No. 1:19-cv-02777 (N.D. Ga.), filed June 18, 2019, closed September 11, 2020.
• In Re Equifax Inc Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 1:17-md-02800 (N.D. Ga.), filed December 6, 2017, closed April 13, 2022.

Sources

• GPS records — personnel timeline, 14 deaths attributed to Hudson’s Dooly State Prison tenures, and facility capacity/staffing data
• User reports collected by GPS — witness accounts of the deaths of Zeary Davante Davis and Darrow Brown
• WGXA — reporting on the arrest of a corrections officer cadet for attempting to smuggle methamphetamine into Dooly State Prison in December 2025
• Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — referenced in GPS intelligence reports for broader DOJ findings on Georgia prison conditions (non‑specific to Hudson’s tenure)
• Court docket records — filings for the six lawsuits listed in the GPS litigation database

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Jun 21, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.