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Thomas, Micheal
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
Micheal Thomas began his career with the Georgia Department of Corrections as a counselor at Macon State Prison in 2010 and rose through roles of chief counselor at Central State Prison and deputy warden before assuming facility-lead posts. In 2022 he became correctional superintendent at McEver Probation Detention Center, then warden at Dodge State Prison from January 2024 to July 2025, and warden at Wilcox State Prison from January 2025 onward. GPS records attribute a total of 20 deaths to his facility-lead tenures—3 at Dodge and 17 at Wilcox—over a period when a U.S. Department of Justice investigation found Georgia’s prisons “riddled with regular violence” and critically understaffed. A federal civil-rights lawsuit, Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas, was filed against him during his wardenship and remains pending.What happened on their watch
McEver Probation Detention Center (2022) Thomas served as correctional superintendent. GPS records show no deaths attributed to the facility during his year there.Dodge State Prison (2024–2025)
While Thomas was warden at Dodge, from January 2024 to July 2025, three deaths were recorded: Kenneth Brown, 58 (Jan. 2024); Sotero Uriquiza-Hernandez, 51 (May 2025); and Joseph Chatfield, 62 (June 2025). All three were classified under cause category 6—a category that, in GPS data, generally indicates natural causes or an undetermined manner; none were noted as homicides. During this period, the U.S. Department of Justice released an October 2024 report describing “horrific conditions” in Georgia prisons where “assaults, stabbings and rapes had become routine” amid severe understaffing. The lawsuit Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas was filed in the Northern District of Georgia in March 2025 while Thomas held the Dodge post.
Wilcox State Prison (2025–present)
Thomas has been the warden at Wilcox since January 2025. GPS records link 17 deaths to his tenure at this facility. Among them, six are explicitly categorized as homicides in GPS notes: Marcus Walker (age 20), Dominique Cornelius Cole (37), Ian Rashod Henry (29), Daylyne Collins (30), and others—several occurring in restrictive housing units referred to as “the hole.” In September 2025, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Dominique Cole was killed by another prisoner two months before his scheduled release; his family alleged that the warden promised a follow-up call that never came and that the prison failed to return his belongings. A public Facebook post from May 2026 further alleged that under Thomas, Wilcox locked down inmate movement to accommodate on‑clock staff gatherings and that basic supplies such as toothbrushes and bedding had lapsed for roughly a year. News reports also detail a gang fight at the prison in early 2025 that sent nine inmates to the hospital with stab wounds. The pending suit Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas was filed during his Wilcox warden service.
Litigation
- Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas, No. 1:25-cv-01155 (N.D. Ga. filed Mar. 4, 2025) — pending.
Sources
- GPS records — career history, death totals by facility, death listings with cause categories and notes
- CourtListener — Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas docket
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple homicide reports at Wilcox and Macon State Prisons; coverage of DOJ investigation and family allegations
- 13WMAZ — Macon State Prison drug trafficking cases
- Facebook (public post) — allegations about staff gatherings and withheld supplies at Wilcox State Prison
- Solitary Watch — 2010 Georgia prisoner strike and conditions at Macon State Prison
- Georgia Public Broadcasting — reporting on staff shortages and deaths in Georgia prisons
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Warden | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2025-07-16 → present |
| WARDEN 1 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| Warden | DODGE STATE PRISON | 2024-03-01 → 2025-07-15 |
| WARDEN 1 | DODGE STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-02-29 |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | McEVER PROBATION DETENTION CENTER | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | 2016-01-01 → 2021-12-31 | |
| BEH HEALTH/COUNSELOR (SP) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Chief Counselor | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2013-01-01 → 2013-12-31 |
| Counselor | MACON STATE PRISON | 2010-01-01 → 2010-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:25-cv-01155 | GAND | 2025-03-04 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
20 people died at facilities under Thomas, Micheal's leadership.
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