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Spann, James Clarence
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 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
James Clarence Spann has held a series of positions with the Georgia Department of Corrections since 2004, ascending from counselor to deputy warden and ultimately to warden at three separate facilities. GPS records show that 49 people died while Spann was in a facility leadership role — either deputy warden or warden — across Autry State Prison (8 deaths), Burruss Correctional Training Center (1 death), Lee State Prison (2 deaths), and Ware State Prison (38 deaths). A 2025 federal lawsuit, Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections, names the GDC and remains pending; it was filed during Spann’s tenure as warden at Ware State Prison. The deaths attributed to his watch include multiple homicides, most concentrated at Ware, where a Department of Justice investigation and press accounts have documented systemic violence, staff shortages, and underreporting of inmate-on-inmate killings.What happened on their watch
Autry State Prison (Deputy Warden, 2020)
In 2020, while Spann served as deputy warden at Autry State Prison, eight individuals died, all recorded under cause category 6 (medical). The deceased ranged in age from 22 to 80. Contemporaneous facility records from the following years note that Legionella bacteria was detected in the water system in 2021 and that Autry closed in June 2023 for major infrastructure repairs after an incarcerated person tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease.Burruss C.T.C. (Warden, 2021–2022)
During Spann’s time as warden at Burruss Correctional Training Center, one death was recorded: Robert Carey Seymour, 58, died on March 9, 2022, also classified as category 6.Lee State Prison (Warden, 2023–2024)
Spann held the warden post at Lee State Prison throughout 2023 and 2024. Two deaths occurred during that period, both in early 2024: Daniel Emmett Ivey (26, died Feb. 15) and Christopher Aaron Godfrey (40, died Jan. 16). Each was assigned cause category 6.Ware State Prison (Warden, 2024–present)
Spann became warden of Ware State Prison on Jan. 1, 2024, and has remained in that role through 2025. The facility accounts for 38 of the 49 deaths attributed to his leadership tenures. GPS records and the sample of decedents show a mixture of medical fatalities and homicides. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation identified at least three homicides at Ware in 2024: Leonardo Lamont Anderson (multiple stab wounds, April 20), Christopher Michael Taylor (stab wound to torso, May 28), and Samuel Kieth Ellis (multiple sharp-force injuries, Aug. 1). Homicides continued in 2025, including Barry Lynn Rutherford (killed in the “hole,” May 25), Henry A. Hamilton (homicide, May 9), and Christopher Allen Barrett (killed by a cellmate, Dec. 1). The AJC also reported that ten inmates were killed at Ware between July 2020 and August 2024, with several homicides involving multiple perpetrators, according to GDC incident reports.In July 2025, a riot and subsequent punitive lockdown were documented at Ware. An intelligence report from Georgia Public Broadcasting cited a family allegation that no counts or welfare checks were being conducted, and that a body of an incarcerated man, DonTavis Mintz, went undiscovered for days. The DOJ investigation, covered by the AJC, found that Georgia’s prison system routinely underreported homicides, that officer vacancy rates exceeded 50% since mid-2021, and that the homicide rate inside state prisons was nearly triple the national average. Those systemic conditions overlapped with Spann’s warden tenure at Ware.
Litigation
- Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections (4:25-cv-00111, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, filed March 26, 2025). Status: pending. No settlement or judgment has been recorded.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple investigations into Georgia prison homicides and conditions, including the DOJ findings, underreporting of killings, and individual homicide reports at Ware State Prison.
- WALB — coverage of DOJ investigation findings and family allegations at Calhoun State Prison (contextual to systemic issues overlapping Spann’s facilities).
- Georgia Public Broadcasting — report on DonTavis Mintz’s death and lack of welfare checks at Ware State Prison.
- CourtListener — docket for Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections.
- GPS intelligence reports — Facebook post alleging supply lapses and staff gatherings at Wilcox State Prison (not directly linked to Spann but part of broader intel on GDC facilities).
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 3 | WARE STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| Warden | WARE STATE PRISON | 2024-10-16 → present |
| WARDEN 1 | WARE STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-10-15 |
| Warden | LEE STATE PRISON | 2023-09-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | LEE STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-08-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | BURRUSS C.T.C | 2021-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | AUTRY STATE PRISON | 2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2019-12-31 |
| BEH HEALTH/COUNSELOR (SP) | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Chief Counselor | CALHOUN STATE PRISON | 2009-01-01 → 2009-12-31 |
| Counselor | AUTRY STATE PRISON | 2004-01-01 → 2004-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4:25-cv-00111 | GAMD | 2025-03-26 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
49 people died at facilities under Spann, James Clarence's leadership.
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