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Spann, James Clarence
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
James Clarence Spann has held Georgia Department of Corrections posts from counselor at Autry State Prison (2004), chief counselor at Calhoun State Prison (2009), and behavioral health counselor at Wilcox State Prison (2015), through deputy warden at Wilcox (2016–2019), deputy warden at Autry (2020), warden at Burruss C.T.C. (2021–2022), warden at Lee State Prison (2023–2024), and warden at Ware State Prison (2024–present). GPS records attribute 38 deaths to Spann’s facility-leader postings: 27 at Ware State Prison, 8 at Autry State Prison, 2 at Lee State Prison, and 1 at Burruss C.T.C. No lawsuits naming Spann as defendant appear in the provided records.
What happened on their watch
Wilcox State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2016–2019
GPS’s authoritative tally lists no deaths attributed to Spann’s deputy-warden posting at Wilcox. Intel records do include an AJC-referenced allegation that Wilcox officials failed to recognize James Wheeler’s mental-health history and placed him in solitary confinement; Wheeler was found hanging in his cell in October 2017. A GPS intel event carries a $750,000 figure for the Wheeler matter, but no lawsuit naming Spann appears.Autry State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2020
GPS attributes eight deaths to this posting. The records list Cordell James Shipman, 22; Darren Nicholas Wehrle, 32; Dennis Lee Hammons, 62; Willie J. Bell, 68; James Mitchell Blankenship, 67; Thomas Edward White, 75; and Richard Office, 80, with GDC’s own “natural” coding obtained through the UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project, not autopsy findings; Mark Ramos, 59, has an unknown cause in GPS records.Burruss C.T.C. — Warden 1, 2021–2022
GPS attributes one death to this posting: Robert Carey Seymour, 58, died March 9, 2022. GPS records list the cause as unknown/pending. No facility-specific allegations or lawsuits appear in the provided records for this posting.Lee State Prison — Warden, 2023–2024
GPS attributes two deaths to Spann’s Lee warden assignment: Christopher Aaron Godfrey, 40, died January 16, 2024, and Daniel Emmett Ivey, 26, died February 15, 2024. Both causes are listed as unknown/pending in GPS records. The records show overlapping 2024 entries for Lee and Ware; the death records attribute these two deaths to Lee and the 27 Ware deaths to Ware.Ware State Prison — Warden, 2024–present
GPS attributes 27 deaths to Spann’s Ware warden posting. Coroner-documented homicides include David Renfro (multiple blunt and sharp force injuries with ligature strangulation), Scott Lee Hullander (multiple sharp force injuries), Christopher Barrett (cellmate admitted assault; pipe and knife recovered), Christopher Henry (blunt force including strangulation), Anthony Terrell Grover (multiple sharp force injuries), Justin Dean Pulley (blunt force and ligature strangulation), and Kojack Junior Thomas (blunt head trauma and ligature asphyxia); the GDC Office of Professional Standards is investigating Thomas’s death. GBI certified Ted Daniel Karras and Charles Johnny Rice as undetermined asphyxia/neck compression, and GPS’s published assessment classifies both as homicides because GBI did not exclude homicide and noted cellmate or possible postmortem-positioning circumstances. Suicides in coroner records include Dakota Lee Duffin, Antonio Leon Moses, and Marty Shawn Wright; Johnathan Hardman-Simmons is identified in records as the named perpetrator of Henry’s homicide. Accidental/drug deaths include Lon Taylor Willbanks (synthetic cannabinoid toxicity) and Barry Lynn Rutherford (methamphetamine intoxication); Vernon Edward Kennedy died after a shower fall. Natural deaths include Freddie Calloway, Demarcus McClarin, and Michael Cohen. Causes remain pending or unknown for Jose Hervert Vazquez, Matias Elijaone Evans, and David Randolph Newcomer.Intel records also describe alleged failures at Ware. The AJC reported that ten inmates were killed at Ware between July 2020 and August 2024, with multiple inmates involved in several of the homicides according to GDC incident reports. Georgia Public Broadcasting carried Narissa Wright’s allegation that no counts or welfare checks were conducted at Ware, allowing her son’s body to go undiscovered for days.
Sources
- GPS structured personnel and mortality records
- Ware County Coroner / GBI DOFS records, via GPS
- UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project custodial mortality dataset, via GPS
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Ware State Prison homicide reports and Wilcox State Prison allegations
- Georgia Public Broadcasting — Ware State Prison death and DOJ violence coverage
- GDC Office of Professional Standards investigation record, via GPS
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
38 people died at facilities under Spann, James Clarence's leadership.
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