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Smith, Tarmarshe A
Status: active
Profile written August 23, 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
Tarmarshe A. Smith began his Georgia Department of Corrections career as a correctional officer at Georgia State Prison in 2002. He later held a correctional administration post in 2015, served as deputy warden at Smith State Prison in 2016–2017, deputy warden at Calhoun State Prison in 2018, warden at Calhoun State Prison in 2019, and warden at Macon State Prison from 2020 through June 30, 2023. Since July 2023, GPS records place Smith in regional leadership roles, most recently as Southeast Regional Director beginning October 2025.
GPS records attribute 36 deaths to Smith’s leadership tenure, all at Macon State Prison, where he served as Warden 1 in 2020 and Warden 3 from 2021 through mid-2023. Court dockets in the input list ten lawsuits naming Smith as a defendant; most are terminated, and none shows an outcome amount.
What happened on their watch
Georgia State Prison, 2002 — Correctional Officer. GPS records show no deaths attributed to this staff-tier posting.
Correction Administration, 2015. No facility assignment and no attributed deaths appear in the records for this period.
Smith State Prison, 2016–2017 — Deputy Warden. GPS records show no deaths attributed to Smith’s Smith State Prison tenure. The contraband, RICO, and violence allegations involving Smith State Prison in the input concern events and individuals dated after his time there.
Calhoun State Prison, 2018–2019 — Deputy Warden, then Warden 1. GPS records show no deaths attributed to Smith’s Calhoun State Prison tenure.
Macon State Prison, 2020–2023 — Warden 1, then Warden 3. GPS records attribute 36 deaths to Macon State Prison during Smith’s warden tenure, with decedent records dated from Jan. 4, 2020, through April 27, 2023. Named decedents range in age from 23 to 75. Fifteen records include notes citing the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation with homicide causes, among them multiple stab wounds in the deaths of Carlos Sabino Ramos and Joseph Walter Brown, blunt force head injury in the death of Kendrick Milike Brown, ligature strangulation in the death of Bobby Edward Lee, and asphyxia in the death of Cody Dustin Silvers. Seven deaths are coded as natural in a UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project dataset of GDC custodial mortality records covering 2015–2021; one death, Jeffrey Allen Ferguson, is GDC-coded as suicide. The remaining 13 records list no cause note in the data provided.
According to the AJC, the mother of Carrington Jwon Frye alleged that after he was stabbed, he bled for more than half an hour before help arrived. A federal lawsuit alleges Bobby Edward Lee Jr. was strangled by his cellmate, a convicted murderer, due to understaffing and indifference by prison officials. The AJC also reported that Kendrick Milike Brown’s mother alleged he was placed in a cell with a prisoner known to be dangerous shortly before his scheduled release. Separately, the AJC cited a DOJ report stating that four gang members ran past an officer to a kitchen area at Macon State Prison and fatally stabbed a prisoner.
Litigation
Court records list the following cases naming Smith as a defendant:
- Whiting v. Tarmarshe Smith, No. 1:21-cv-00973 (N.D. Ga.), filed Mar. 8, 2021, terminated Sept. 2, 2021.
- Clayton v. Ward, No. 1:21-cv-00025 (M.D. Ga.), filed Jan. 29, 2021, terminated Feb. 11, 2022.
- Cox v. Ward, No. 5:22-cv-00008 (M.D. Ga.), filed Jan. 5, 2022, terminated Aug. 10, 2023.
- Gillis v. Saldana, No. 5:22-cv-00177 (M.D. Ga.), filed May 9, 2022, terminated Dec. 26, 2024.
- Clark v. Troutman, No. 5:22-cv-00253 (M.D. Ga.), filed July 12, 2022, terminated Sept. 5, 2023.
- Tucker v. Wellpath LLC, No. 5:24-cv-00215 (M.D. Ga.), filed July 3, 2024, pending.
- Tucker v. Holt, No. 5:24-cv-00360 (M.D. Ga.), filed Oct. 16, 2024, terminated June 11, 2025.
- Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, No. 1:25-cv-03191 (N.D. Ga.), filed June 6, 2025, terminated Mar. 30, 2026.
- Mckenzie v. Oliver, No. 4:26-cv-00108 (N.D. Ga.), filed Apr. 28, 2026, pending.
- Gilmore v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 6:18-cv-00115 (S.D. Ga.), filed Nov. 20, 2018, terminated Jan. 20, 2023.
No settlement or judgment amounts are listed in the records provided.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation, including homicide causes and family allegations at Macon State Prison.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on DOJ findings concerning Macon State Prison.
- UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project custodial mortality dataset, obtained via GDC open records and reflected in GPS records.
- U.S. District Court dockets via CourtListener — Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Georgia.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Southeast Regional Director | 2025-10-01 → present | |
| ASSISTANT REGION DIRECTOR | 2024-01-01 → present | |
| Assistant Regional Director for the Southeast | 2023-07-01 → present | |
| WARDEN 3 | MACON STATE PRISON | 2021-01-01 → 2023-06-30 |
| WARDEN 1 | MACON STATE PRISON | 2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | CALHOUN STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | CALHOUN STATE PRISON | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
| CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Correctional Officer | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2002-01-01 → 2002-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4:26-cv-00108 | GAND | 2026-04-28 | pending |
| 1:25-cv-03191 | GAND | 2025-06-06 | terminated |
| 5:24-cv-00360 | GAMD | 2024-10-16 | terminated |
| 5:24-cv-00215 | GAMD | 2024-07-03 | pending |
| 5:22-cv-00253 | GAMD | 2022-07-12 | terminated |
| 5:22-cv-00177 | GAMD | 2022-05-09 | terminated |
| 5:22-cv-00008 | GAMD | 2022-01-05 | terminated |
| 1:21-cv-00973 | GAND | 2021-03-08 | terminated |
| 1:21-cv-00025 | GAMD | 2021-01-29 | terminated |
| 6:18-cv-00115 | GASD | 2018-11-20 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
36 people died at facilities under Smith, Tarmarshe A's leadership.
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