Scott-Gist, Laura C

Tenure Summary

Laura C. Scott-Gist holds active status in the records reviewed. Her documented career begins in non-leadership GDC roles — Training & Dev Spec 3 in 2017, Education Prgm Spec 3 in 2018 and 2019, and Behavioral Health Counselor 2 in 2020 and 2021 — none of which are tied to a specific facility in the position records. She moved into facility leadership as Correctional Asst. Supt at Helms Facility, a role recorded from January 2022 through 2025, with an additional entry at the same title dated August 27, 2026.

Six deaths are attributed to her leadership tenure, all of them at Helms Facility. Five are listed in GPS's death registry as Natural/Medical and one as Unknown/Pending. The records reviewed contain no lawsuits naming her as a defendant, no intel reports or intel events at Helms dated within her tenure, and no news reports naming her.

What happened on their watch

Helms Facility — Correctional Asst. Supt (2022–2025)

All six deaths attributed to Scott-Gist's tenure occurred at Helms Facility while she held the Correctional Asst. Supt role there, per GPS's death registry:

• Mitchell Lebron Dunn died January 26, 2022, at Helms Facility; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical and his age as 60.
• Kenneth Clyde died February 25, 2022, at Helms Facility; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical and his age as 65.
• Walton Jerome Thomas died June 26, 2022, at Helms Facility; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, meaning GPS does not yet know the cause, and his age as 56.
• Frank Eugene Huffman died April 23, 2023, at Helms Facility; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical and his age as 66.
• Robert Lee Hines died May 17, 2023, at Helms Facility; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical and his age as 63.
• James Michael Stafford died July 20, 2023, at Helms Facility; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical and his age as 59.

The recorded deaths cluster: two within a month of each other in early 2022, and three within a three-month span in 2023. The decedents' recorded ages range from 56 to 66. Per the death registry, five of the six causes fall into the same recorded category, Natural/Medical; the sixth death, Walton Jerome Thomas, remains Unknown/Pending.

No intel reports or intel events at Helms Facility are dated within Scott-Gist's tenure there, and no news reports naming her appear in the records reviewed. No lawsuits were filed naming her as a defendant during any of the leadership roles documented here, so there is no litigation record to set against the deaths during her tenure.

Everything above describes recorded events and the role she held when they occurred. It is not a finding of responsibility or fault on her part.

Sources

• GPS death registry — six deaths recorded at Helms Facility during Scott-Gist's tenure as Correctional Asst. Supt (Dunn 2022; Clyde 2022; Thomas 2022; Huffman 2023; Hines 2023; Stafford 2023), including recorded cause categories and ages at death.
• GDC personnel and salary records, 2017–2026 — position titles, accountability tier (staff, then facility deputy), facility assignment and salary for each documented year of Scott-Gist's employment.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 11, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.