Wiza, Scott T

Tenure Summary

Scott T. Wiza's Georgia Department of Corrections career is documented in state salary records beginning in 2015, when he was listed as a Public Safety Trainer earning $36,558.63. The records run through a Warden 1 salary line of $117,743.82 in 2025. He appears as Public Safety Trainer (2015–2018), Correctional Assistant Superintendent (2019–2021), Correctional Superintendent (2022), and Warden at Rutledge State Prison from July 1, 2022, to March 31, 2025.

Eight prisoner deaths are attributed to facilities during his leadership tenure, all eight at Rutledge State Prison, where he held the Warden role. Two of the eight — Daniel Tyler Nichols, 26, and Leon Venteris Hobson, 58 — are documented in the records as killings. No lawsuit in the available records names Wiza personally as a defendant; state records do show a $20,000 liability payout tied to Rutledge during his tenure, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting from January 2025 documents a lawsuit over a Rutledge death and a contraband scheme involving a facility sergeant.

What happened on their watch

Public Safety Trainer, 2015–2018; Correctional Assistant Superintendent, 2019–2021. No facility is recorded for these postings, and no deaths are attributed to them in the data provided.

Rutledge State Prison — Warden, July 1, 2022 – March 31, 2025. Eight deaths fall inside this posting, per GPS's facility death records:

• 2023 (three): Daniel Tyler Nichols, 26, died April 23, 2023 — the record lists asphyxia due to neck compression. John Irvin Tidd Sr., 59, died July 18, 2023. Leonard Leroy Dillard, 57, died October 11, 2023.
• 2024 (five): Leroy House, 68, died January 3; Anthony Antonio Hand, 52, died January 28; Leon Venteris Hobson, 58, died July 7; Tony Jeromy Reddish, 45, died September 28; Joe Payne, 73, died December 29.

Seven of the eight were 45 or older; Nichols was the youngest. The records state circumstances for only two: Nichols (asphyxia due to neck compression) and Hobson, whose death resulted from an inmate-to-inmate assault — a coroner told a television station that Hobson was found dead in his cell after a fight with his cellmate. No narrative is recorded for the other six decedents.

Two AJC items dated January 21, 2025, are tied to Rutledge during Wiza's tenure as Warden. The first reports a lawsuit in which Curtis Mincey's sister alleged he suffered from a mental illness and did not receive appropriate medical or psychological assistance before his death. The second, part of the "Operation Skyhawk" contraband investigation, alleges that Sergeant Erika Shonquandria Hall admitted to providing prisoners with cellphones, chargers, tobacco and food in exchange for money on at least six occasions; the AJC headline states seven officers were arrested in the scheme.

Separately, the Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger (obtained through Open Records) records a $20,000 state liability payout tied to Rutledge State Prison for a 2024 incident involving Amber Brejae Walker, dated June 19, 2024.

Litigation

• Curtis Mincey lawsuit (reported January 21, 2025). In a lawsuit, Mincey's sister alleged he suffered from a mental illness and did not receive appropriate medical or psychological assistance prior to his death at Rutledge State Prison, according to the AJC. Court and disposition details are not specified in the available records.
• No lawsuit recorded in the provided data names Wiza as a defendant, and the records give no court, case number, or disposition for the Mincey action.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — "GA prison homicides: a list of those killed in Georgia's prison system" (reporting on the Curtis Mincey lawsuit, January 21, 2025, Rutledge State Prison)
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — "Seven officers arrested in Operation Skyhawk, accused in contraband scheme run by Valdosta prisoner" (Sergeant Erika Shonquandria Hall allegation, Rutledge State Prison, January 21, 2025)
• Georgia Department of Administrative Services, Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — $20,000 settlement, Rutledge State Prison, 2024
• Georgia Prisoners' Speak personnel and facility death records — Wiza position/salary history and Rutledge State Prison death records, April 2023 – December 2024
• Coroner statement on Leon Venteris Hobson's death, as reported by a television station and recorded in GPS's incident data

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 23, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.