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Ivey, George
Status: active
Profile written July 12, 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 has held facility-leadership and deputy-warden roles in the Georgia Department of Corrections for over a decade. After serving briefly as Deputy Warden of Security at Hancock State Prison in 2010 and in a correctional administration role in 2015, he returned to Hancock in 2016 as Deputy Warden and remained in that post until mid‑2023. He was then appointed Interim Warden at Hancock from July 2023 through December 2024. In January 2025, Ivey became Warden 3 at Georgia State Prison. GPS records attribute a total of 15 deaths to his leadership tenure — all of them at Hancock State Prison during the years he was Deputy Warden and Interim Warden. Multiple federal lawsuits have been filed naming him as a defendant, covering incidents that occurred at facilities under his watch.What happened on their watch
Hancock State Prison (2016–2024)
Ivey served as Deputy Warden at Hancock from 2016 through mid‑2023 and then as Interim Warden from July 2023 until the end of 2024. During this entire span, GPS records document 15 deaths at the facility. The decedents — all male and ranging from 22 to 59 years old — included Rashad Bolton (puncture wound to chest, 2021), Cesar Arnold Pastrana (stab wound, 2020), Dwayne Zackery (stabbed with a homemade knife, 2021), Charles Tristen McKee (stabbed 13 times in the back and head, 2022), Francisco Melgar‑Saldivar (strangulation and blunt force injuries, 2023), and Travon Walthour (stabbed, October 2024). Several of these deaths were documented as homicides by the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution’s prison‑homicides investigation. Additional deaths attributed to the facility include Norman Jackson Samples (blunt‑force injuries of the head and torso, December 2022) and others whose precise cause is not detailed in public records.Allegations surrounding the deaths point to systemic failures. Per the AJC, a 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report described Georgia prisons as “stunning violence, rampant sexual assaults and gang‑run prisons, fueled by a culture of indifference.” At Hancock, the AJC reported that the correctional‑officer vacancy rate was among the highest in the state — 73.5 percent as of October 2024, when Ivey was Interim Warden — leaving only 49 officers to supervise more than 1,100 prisoners. Consultants found emergency‑level staffing vacancies at 20 of the state’s 34 prisons, where broken cell locks allowed gang members to move freely and intimidate others. A lawsuit alleged that McKee was placed in a dorm with known gang members hostile to LGBTQ inmates and that staff ignored his repeated requests to be moved the day before his murder. A claim against the state maintained that Melgar‑Saldivar was not provided appropriate medical care after being attacked. Earlier, in 2019, while Ivey was Deputy Warden, a Hancock officer was convicted of smuggling drugs into the prison, and an inmate who had reported suicidal thoughts was placed in a regular cell contrary to a counselor’s advice and hanged himself — conduct that later led to a $600,000 settlement, according to the AJC.
Litigation
- Tilman v. Sellers (No. 5:15‑cv‑00085, GAMD), filed Mar. 13, 2015; terminated Feb. 9, 2016.
- Grant v. Washington (No. 5:21‑cv‑00427, GAMD), filed Dec. 1, 2021; terminated Sept. 16, 2022.
- Grant v. Ward (No. 5:22‑cv‑00396, GAMD), filed Nov. 7, 2022; terminated Aug. 28, 2025.
- Spradlin v. Toby (No. 5:23‑cv‑00328, GAMD), filed Aug. 29, 2023; pending.
- Garrison v. Ivey (No. 5:23‑cv‑00348, GAMD), filed Sept. 13, 2023; terminated Feb. 12, 2025.
- Ballard v. Ivey (No. 5:24‑cv‑00377, GAMD), filed Oct. 16, 2024; terminated Nov. 7, 2024.
- Ballard v. Ivey (No. 5:25‑cv‑00130, GAMD), filed Apr. 1, 2025; terminated June 25, 2025.
- Jones v. Holt (No. 5:25‑cv‑00271, GAMD), filed June 25, 2025; pending.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (causes of death for Bolton, Pastrana, McKee, Zackery, Samples, Bishop); coverage of DOJ investigation, staffing crises, gang‑related violence, and civil claims.
- GPS research records — death totals and individual incident data.
- 13WMAZ and Human & Civil Rights Coalition of Georgia — Travon Walthour death report.
- CourtListener — federal court dockets for all listed lawsuits.
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 |
| 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 |
| 5:15-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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