Peoples, Delvin Rasaunn

Tenure Summary

What happened on their watch

Calhoun State Prison — Deputy Warden (2020–2024)

A particularly severe case occurred in February 2023, when Reginald Jacobs Jr., 24, was found dead in a segregation cell at Calhoun. The coroner ruled the death natural, caused by dehydration with renal failure. The lawsuit Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections (detailed below) alleged that an employee disabled the water supply to Jacobs’s cell, no drinking water was provided, and standard segregation rounds were not performed. The family’s complaint and federal investigators both pointed to this death as emblematic of deliberate indifference and unsafe conditions. DOJ findings also faulted Calhoun for rejecting a grievance about gang violence at the facility without follow-up. During the same window, the AJC reported that dozens of drug smuggling cases targeting Calhoun staff and visitors were dismissed because evidence was never submitted for lab testing; two correctional officers arrested in the “Hot Pockets” methamphetamine case saw their charges dropped in 2023.

Macon State Prison — Deputy Warden (2025) and Warden (2026–present)

Understaffing at Macon during Peoples’s tenure drew sharp external scrutiny. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, about two-thirds of correctional officer jobs at Macon were vacant as of October 2024; the local coroner reported responding to deaths with only five to eight officers staffing the entire facility. A lawsuit filed by the Southern Center for Human Rights in January 2025 described 96 men sharing a single toilet. The DOJ’s findings, though broader than Macon alone, documented that Georgia’s prison homicide rate was nearly triple the national average and that GDC systematically underreported homicides. Within the facility, a federal drug trafficking prosecution in 2026 revealed that incarcerated men used contraband cellphones to run fentanyl and synthetic cannabinoid operations from inside Macon. No lawsuits naming Peoples individually were identified, though the environment of homicides, suicides, and contraband activity continued on his watch.

Litigation

• Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 4:25-cv-00111 (GAMD, filed March 26, 2025). The lawsuit alleged that Reginald Jacobs Jr., held in solitary segregation at Calhoun State Prison, died of dehydration after an employee disabled his water supply and no drinking water was provided, violating GDC policy. The case settled; a notice of settlement was filed August 15, 2025, and the court dismissed the case with prejudice on December 16, 2025.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — coverage of prison homicides, DOJ investigation findings, understaffing at Macon State Prison, and dismissed drug-smuggling cases tied to Calhoun State Prison.
• GPS records — personnel and death data, including coroner’s death certificates obtained via open-records requests and internal case management submissions.
• Court records — Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections (docket via CourtListener), settlement documents.
• WALB — reporting on family allegations, DOJ findings regarding Calhoun State Prison.
• 13WMAZ — reporting on federal drug trafficking prosecutions originating inside Macon State Prison.
• U.S. Department of Justice investigation report (findings covering 2018–2023, released 2024–2025).

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 2, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.