West, Sandi R

Tenure Summary

Sandi R. West has spent more than two decades in the Georgia Department of Corrections, rising from Sergeant at Smith State Prison in 2003 through a series of supervisory and leadership roles before being appointed Warden at Rogers State Prison in 2024, where GPS records show she remains active. Her facility-lead postings at Rogers State Prison overlap with six recorded deaths — five in cause-category 6 and one confirmed suicide by hanging — spanning July 2024 through February 2026. One federal civil rights lawsuit naming West as a defendant is currently pending. Her earlier supervisory tenures at Smith State Prison place her within a facility that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Marshall Project documented as one of the most violent and dysfunctional in the state system, though the intel reports tied to Smith State Prison name other individuals — former Warden Brian Adams and inmate Nathan Weekes — as central actors in the facility's documented crises.

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What Happened on Their Watch

Smith State Prison — Sergeant (2003), Lieutenant (2011), CSM Correctional Lieutenant (2016), CSM Correctional Unit Manager (2017)

West held staff and unit-supervisor roles at Smith State Prison across multiple years. GPS records do not attribute any deaths directly to her leadership tier during these postings. However, the broader institutional record at Smith State Prison is extensively documented. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the facility operated with roughly two-thirds of its correctional officer positions unfilled — only 53 officers for a facility designed for 160. The Marshall Project reported that understaffing left a single officer responsible for an area housing 600 men, with no functioning fire extinguishers during a mass mattress fire. Intel events at Smith State Prison during overlapping and subsequent periods include multiple homicides, a warden's arrest on RICO and bribery charges (former Warden Brian Adams, arrested around February 2023, per GPS records), an inmate-orchestrated contraband and murder scheme attributed to Nathan Weekes, and a June 2024 incident in which inmate Jaydrekus Hart used a smuggled firearm to kill Aramark food service worker Aureon Shavea Grace before dying in what was ruled a murder-suicide. The AJC alleges prison staff were warned of the gun's presence but failed to act. None of these events are attributed to West by name in the structured records.

Montgomery State Prison — CSM Correctional Unit Manager (2018), Deputy Warden (2019)

GPS records show West served as Unit Manager and then Deputy Warden at Montgomery State Prison. No deaths are attributed to her leadership tier during this posting, and no intel reports or lawsuits are linked to Montgomery State Prison in the structured records.

Women's Probation Detention Center — Deputy Warden (2020)

West held the Deputy Warden role at the Women's Probation Detention Center in 2020. GPS records show no deaths attributed to her leadership tier during this posting.

Correctional Superintendent — facility unspecified (2021–2023)

GPS records show West held the title of Correctional Superintendent for three consecutive years at a facility not identified in the structured data. No deaths are attributed to this posting.

Rogers State Prison — Warden (2024–present)

West has served as Warden at Rogers State Prison since January 2024, GPS records show. Six individuals died at Rogers State Prison during her tenure as facility lead. Shawn Remar Johnson, 34, and Taylor Anthony Hunt, 29, died in July and September 2024, respectively, both in cause-category 6. Intel events note that Hunt's death was officially ruled a suicide but that physical evidence — described in GPS event records as including ligature marks, broken bones, bruises, puncture wounds, and stab wounds — contradicted that classification; no source publication is attributed to these event entries. David Woods died February 4, 2025 (cause-category 6; age not recorded). Justin Waymon Hollingsworth, 43, died June 26, 2025; GPS records list the cause as suicide by hanging in a segregation unit. Randy Eugene Stewart, 60, died July 17, 2025 (cause-category 6). John Meeks, 49, died February 19, 2026 (cause-category 6). A federal civil rights lawsuit, Williams v. West (No. 1:25-cv-02109, N.D. Ga.), was filed April 16, 2025 and remains pending, per court records.

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Litigation

• Williams v. West, No. 1:25-cv-02109, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia — filed April 16, 2025; pending as of GPS records. No settlement amount recorded.
• Jackson v. Catanzariti, No. 6:12-cv-00113, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia — filed December 10, 2012; terminated June 28, 2023. No outcome amount recorded. West is listed as a party per court records; the structured data does not specify her role in this case.

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Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple investigative reports on Smith State Prison homicides, contraband schemes, staffing crises, and the June 2024 kitchen shooting
• The Marshall Project — reporting on Georgia prison understaffing and conditions at Smith State Prison
• In These Times — reporting on Georgia prison strike allegations
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — reporting on drone-smuggled contraband and GDC legislative testimony (August 2024)
• WTOC — reporting on April 2026 gang-related altercation and system-wide lockdown at Smith State Prison
• CourtListener / federal court records — Williams v. West, No. 1:25-cv-02109 (N.D. Ga.); Jackson v. Catanzariti, No. 6:12-cv-00113 (S.D. Ga.)
• GPS records — positions table, deaths-during-tenure table, intel events at Rogers State Prison and Smith State Prison

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.