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Ivey, George
Status: active
Profile written June 21, 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
George Ivey’s career in Georgia corrections centers on Hancock State Prison, where he served as Deputy Warden of Security in 2010, and then as Deputy Warden from 2016 through 2022, before rising to Interim Warden from July 2023 to December 2024. In 2025 he became Warden 3 at Georgia State Prison. GPS records attribute 15 deaths to Hancock State Prison during Ivey’s leadership tenures — 11 while he was Deputy Warden and four as Interim Warden. The deaths include multiple homicides by stabbing, blunt-force trauma, and strangulation, as well as cases of undetermined cause. During his tenure, the facility drew a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that described a culture of indifference, rampant violence, and gang control, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that officer vacancy rates exceeded 70 percent. Several lawsuits were filed against Ivey and the prison.What happened on their watch
Deputy Warden, Hancock State Prison (2016–2022)
In the roughly two-year span from March 2020 through December 2022, 11 people died at Hancock State Prison while Ivey was Deputy Warden. The AJC’s investigation into Georgia prison homicides identified the causes of several: Cesar Pastrana (stabbed in the chest in March 2020), Rashad Bolton (punctured by a sharp object in January 2021), Dwayne Zackery (stabbed with a homemade knife in February 2021), Antione Bush (undetermined causes in June 2022), Charles Tristen McKee (stabbed 13 times in the back and head in May 2022), Terry Bishop (blunt-force trauma with acute drug toxicity in October 2022), and Norman Jackson Samples (blunt-force injuries of the head and torso in December 2022). Additional deaths included Zackery Brown (December 2022), Michael Brown (June 2021), Terrill Howard (October 2021), and Xaysana Thao (December 2020), all classified under cause category 6 (generally undetermined/non-homicide) in GPS records.The case of Charles Tristen McKee drew particular scrutiny. A lawsuit alleged that McKee, who was gay, was housed with known gang members hostile to LGBTQ inmates despite his repeated pleas to be moved. The U.S. Department of Justice later found that McKee jumped through stair railings while trying to escape attackers, and a fellow prisoner who attempted to intervene was seriously wounded. A claim filed by Rashad Bolton’s parents similarly asserted he was stabbed to death. The AJC reported that staff failed to act on McKee’s requests the day before he was killed. At the systemic level, a DOJ report covering Georgia’s prisons described a pattern of “stunning violence, rampant sexual assaults and other dangerous conditions,” and the AJC noted that staffing vacancies at 20 of the state’s 34 prisons had reached “emergency levels” during Ivey’s deputy years.
Interim Warden, Hancock State Prison (July 2023 – December 2024)
As Interim Warden, Ivey oversaw four additional deaths. In August 2023, Francisco Melgar-Saldivar was strangled and beaten, and a claim filed against the state alleged he was denied appropriate medical care after the attack. Timothy Hicks died later that month (cause category 6). In October 2024, Ralph Thompson died (also cause category 6), followed five days later by Travon Walthour, who was stabbed to death, according to 13WMAZ and the Human & Civil Rights Coalition of Georgia. By then, the AJC reported that Hancock State Prison had a 73.5% correctional officer vacancy rate — only 49 officers for over 1,100 prisoners — and a September 2024 gang assault resulted in seven prisoners being disciplined. The DOJ’s 2024 findings on Georgia prisons underscored the violence and sexual assaults that defined the environment during Ivey’s interim leadership.Litigation
- Ballard v. Ivey, 5:24-cv-00377 (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, filed October 2024, terminated November 2024).
- Ballard v. Ivey, 5:25-cv-00130 (same court, filed April 2025, terminated June 2025).
- Garrison v. Ivey, 5:23-cv-00348 (same court, filed September 2023, terminated February 2025).
All three suits naming Ivey are now closed; no monetary outcome amounts are recorded in the dockets. Other facility-level lawsuits — such as Battle v. Hancock State Prison (2020) — were filed during his tenure but do not list Ivey as a named defendant.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple investigative reports on Georgia prison homicides, including causes of death for Pastrana, Bolton, Zackery, McKee, Bishop, Samples, and Melgar-Saldivar; reporting on DOJ findings, staffing crises, and gang violence.
- GPS records — total death counts and individual decedent names and incident dates.
- CourtListener dockets — Ballard v. Ivey and Garrison v. Ivey filings.
- 13WMAZ — coverage of Travon Walthour’s stabbing death at Hancock SP.
- Human & Civil Rights Coalition of Georgia — confirmation of Walthour’s death.
- U.S. Department of Justice investigation — referenced in AJC reporting, covering systemic violence and staff indifference in Georgia prisons.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 3 | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| WARDEN 3 | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | |
| Interim Warden | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | 2023-07-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | 2023-01-01 → 2023-06-30 | |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Deputy Warden of Security | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | 2010-01-01 → 2010-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:25-cv-00271 | GAMD | 2025-06-25 | pending |
| 5:25-cv-00130 | GAMD | 2025-04-01 | terminated |
| 5:24-cv-00377 | GAMD | 2024-10-16 | terminated |
| 1:24-cv-03412 | GAND | 2024-07-31 | terminated |
| 5:23-cv-00348 | GAMD | 2023-09-13 | terminated |
| 5:23-cv-00328 | GAMD | 2023-08-29 | pending |
| 5:22-cv-00396 | GAMD | 2022-11-07 | terminated |
| 5:21-cv-00427 | GAMD | 2021-12-01 | terminated |
| 5:20-cv-00063 | GAMD | 2020-02-18 | terminated |
| 1:17-cv-00107 | GASD | 2017-08-28 | terminated |
| 1:16-cv-00533 | GAND | 2016-02-19 | terminated |
| 5:15-cv-00085 | GAMD | 2015-03-13 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
15 people died at facilities under Ivey, George's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-10-13 | TRAVON MONTRELL WALTHOUR | 29 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Interim Warden |
| 2024-10-08 | RALPH THOMPSON | 53 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Interim Warden |
| 2023-08-22 | TIMOTHY DALE HICKS | 37 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Interim Warden |
| 2023-08-12 | FRANCISCO MELGAR-SALDIVAR | 26 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Interim Warden |
| 2022-12-27 | NORMAN JACKSON SAMPLES | 59 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2022-12-23 | ZACKERY PHILLIP BROWN | 39 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2022-10-18 | TERRY LEE BISHOP | 49 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2022-06-18 | ANTIONE LAMAR BUSH | 32 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2022-05-23 | CHARLES TRISTEN MCKEE | 24 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2021-10-17 | TERRILL BERNARD HOWARD | 51 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2021-06-26 | MICHAEL ANTHONY BROWN | 54 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2021-02-12 | DWAYNE ZACKERY | 22 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2021-01-04 | RASHAD BOLTON | 29 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2020-12-20 | XAYSANA THAO | 40 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2020-03-13 | CESAR ARNOLD PASTRANA | 33 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
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