Todd, Curtis J

Tenure Summary

Curtis J. Todd began his GDC career in 2013 as a correctional officer at Smith Transitional Center and steadily advanced over more than a decade, reaching facility-lead roles. By 2024 he held the Superintendent title at Emanuel Probation Detention Center; in January 2025 he moved to Smith State Prison as Correctional Superintendent, then shifted to a Special Assistant to the Warden role there in February 2025, before being appointed Warden at Dodge State Prison effective January 16, 2026. GPS records show no deaths attributed to facilities during Todd's leadership-tier tenures, and he is named in no lawsuits as a defendant. However, his January 2025 posting at Smith State Prison — one of the most documented crisis facilities in the Georgia system — and his current command of Dodge State Prison place him in institutional contexts carrying significant documented histories of violence, contraband, and staffing failure.

What Happened on Their Watch

Emanuel Probation Detention Center — Correctional Assistant Superintendent (2022–2023)
GPS records show no deaths attributed to Emanuel PDC during Todd's tenure there. No lawsuits name him in connection with this posting.

Smith State Prison — Correctional Superintendent / Special Assistant to the Warden (January–ongoing 2025)
Todd held the Superintendent title at Smith State Prison beginning January 2025, then transitioned to Special Assistant to the Warden in February 2025. GPS records show no deaths attributed to the facility during his specific tenure window. The facility he entered, however, carried a documented crisis history: per GPS records, at least eight homicides occurred at Smith State Prison in 2023 alone — including the stabbing death of Correctional Officer Robert Danford Clark on October 1, 2023 — and the AJC reported that 2023 set a statewide record of 37 prison homicides, with Smith among the leading contributors. In June 2024, inmate Jaydrekus Hart shot and killed 24-year-old Aramark food service worker Aureon Shavea Grace inside the prison kitchen using a firearm investigators allege was smuggled in by drone, per Georgia Public Broadcasting; Hart then died in what was ruled a murder-suicide. A lawsuit filed July 21, 2025 in Fulton County State Court by Deshonda Hagins alleges prison staff were repeatedly warned of the gun's presence but failed to act, and that no guards were present in the area where Grace was killed, according to the AJC. The AJC further reported that Smith State Prison had approximately two-thirds of its correctional officer positions unfilled — roughly 53 officers at a facility designed for 160. A former warden, Brian Adams, was arrested in early 2023 and charged under Georgia's RICO Act, bribery, making false statements, and violating his oath as a public officer in connection with an inmate-led contraband scheme, per GPS records and the AJC. On April 1, 2026 — while Todd held the Special Assistant role — a gang-related altercation at Smith State Prison resulted in two inmates being airlifted to hospitals and triggered a system-wide GDC lockdown, per WTOC and GPS records.

Dodge State Prison — Warden (January 16, 2026–present)
Todd assumed the Warden role at Dodge State Prison on January 16, 2026. GPS records document two deaths at Dodge State Prison in 2022, prior to his tenure: Hezekiah Sha'Nard Cuyler, 21, died September 14, 2022 from blunt force trauma to the head, and Douglas Anthony Forts, 57, died June 2, 2022 from acute traumatic amputation of a finger sustained during a fight. No deaths at Dodge are attributed to the period of Todd's command in the structured records.

Litigation

• Deshonda Hagins v. Georgia Department of Corrections — Filed July 21, 2025, Fulton County State Court. Alleges staff at Smith State Prison were repeatedly warned of a firearm on the premises, failed to act, and left no guards in the area where food service worker Aureon Grace was killed. Seeks jury trial and unspecified damages. Disposition unknown. Todd is not named individually as a defendant; the suit names GDC. (AJC, July 2025)

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — homicide reporting, contraband investigations, staffing analysis, Aureon Grace shooting, Brian Adams arrest, Nathan Weekes contraband scheme, Deshonda Hagins lawsuit
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — drone-smuggled firearm reporting; GDC Senate committee testimony (August 2024)
• The Marshall Project — understaffing and overtime analysis; Smith State Prison conditions reporting
• WTOC — April 1, 2026 gang-related altercation and system-wide lockdown
• In These Times — Georgia prison strike allegations regarding conditions, medical care, and contraband
• GPS records — position history, facility death records, intel event log, incident relay reports

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 6, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.