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Spann, James Clarence
Status: active
Profile written August 2, 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’s career with the Georgia Department of Corrections spans from entry-level counselor to warden of multiple prisons. GPS records attribute 49 total deaths to facilities during his tenures in leadership roles: 8 at Autry State Prison as deputy warden (2020), 1 at Burruss Correctional Training Center as warden (2021–2022), 2 at Lee State Prison as warden (2023–2024), and 38 at Ware State Prison, where he has served as warden since January 2024. Although no lawsuits name him as a defendant, his time at Ware coincided with a sharp concentration of inmate homicides and suicides, drawing scrutiny from news outlets and federal civil rights investigators who found systemic violence and underreporting across the state’s prisons.What happened on their watch
Autry State Prison (Deputy Warden, 2020)
During Spann’s single year as deputy warden, eight incarcerated people died, all with unspecified or undetermined causes in GPS records. The decedents ranged in age from 22‑year‑old Cordell Shipman to 80‑year‑old Richard Office. No allegations directly involving Spann surfaced, but the facility later experienced a Legionella bacteria contamination in 2021 and was closed for infrastructure repairs in June 2023, per GPS intelligence.Burruss Correctional Training Center (Warden, 2021–2022)
One death is recorded on Spann’s watch: Robert Carey Seymour, age 58, on March 9, 2022, with the cause listed as undetermined. No other incidents or intelligence reports from this period are documented.Lee State Prison (Warden, 2023–2024)
Two deaths are attributed to Spann’s leadership at Lee State Prison: Christopher Aaron Godfrey, 40 (January 2024) and Daniel Emmett Ivey, 26 (February 2024), both with undetermined causes. GPS records hold no further details on these deaths, and no facility-specific news or allegations emerged during his wardenship there.Ware State Prison (Warden, 2024–present)
As warden at Ware State Prison, Spann has overseen a period of exceptional lethal violence. GPS records attribute 38 deaths to this tenure. Ware County coroner records obtained by GPS show numerous homicides: Scott Hullander (multiple sharp‑force injuries, December 2024), Squaier Jiles (exsanguination from multiple sharp‑force wounds, September 2024), Samuel Ellis (multiple sharp‑force injuries, August 2024), Christopher Taylor (stab wound, May 2024), Leonardo Anderson (multiple stab wounds, April 2024), David Renfro (blunt and sharp force injuries plus ligature strangulation, October 2024), Christopher Barrett (multiple sharp‑force injuries, December 2025), and in 2026, Kojack Thomas Jr. (blunt head trauma and ligature asphyxia, May), Justin Pulley (blunt force and ligature strangulation, May), Anthony Grover (multiple sharp‑force injuries, May), and Christopher Henry (blunt force injuries including strangulation, February). Suicides were also documented, including those of Dakota Duffin (hanging, July 2025), Marty Shawn Wright (exsanguination from sharp force trauma, November 2025), and Johnathan Hardman‑Simmons (apparent hanging, May 2026). Other deaths resulted from natural causes, accidents, drug intoxication, and undetermined manner.Media reports and federal investigations have highlighted broader systemic problems at Ware during this period. According to the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution, ten inmates were killed at Ware between July 2020 and August 2024. Georgia Public Broadcasting quoted Narissa Wright, whose son DonTavis Mintz died at Ware in October 2024, alleging that “no counts or welfare checks were conducted,” allowing his body to go undiscovered for days. A federal report covering 2018 to 2023, released during Spann’s tenure, found Georgia’s prison homicide rate nearly triple the national average and described an “environment of fear and complacency” with staffing shortages. GPS intelligence logs also note a riot and subsequent punitive lockdown at Ware in July 2025, as well as a GDC Office of Professional Standards investigation into the death of Kojack Thomas Jr. in June 2026. While Spann was not named in lawsuits, these events unfolded on his watch as the facility’s top administrator.
Litigation
No lawsuits list Spann as a defendant in the GPS database.Sources
- Georgia Prisoners’ Speak (GPS) personnel and death records
- Ware County Coroner / GBI Division of Forensic Sciences records (obtained via open records)
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — “A list of those killed in Georgia’s prison system” (homicide tally at Ware)
- Georgia Public Broadcasting — report on Narissa Wright’s allegations about Ware State Prison
- WALB — reports on Willie Andrew Willis Jr.’s death and systemic DOJ findings
- GPS intelligence reports — facility event logs and public Facebook post alleging misconduct at Wilcox State Prison
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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