From Convict Leasing to $0 Wages: Research Documents 160 Years of Forced Labor in Georgia’s Prisons

News Lead

A comprehensive research document tracing 160 years of forced labor in Georgia reveals that approximately 80% of the state’s 47,000 incarcerated people work for no pay or pennies per hour, generating an estimated $64 million annually for Georgia Correctional Industries alone — while the state’s prison population remains 60% Black in a state that is 33% Black.

The research establishes a direct legal, economic, and geographic line from chattel slavery through Georgia’s notorious convict leasing system (1866–1908) to the present day, all authorized by the same constitutional provision: the 13th Amendment’s exception allowing involuntary servitude “as punishment for crime.” Georgia’s modern prison labor system operates across 21 manufacturing plants and more than 13,000 acres of farmland, with counties receiving an additional estimated $100+ million in value annually from unpaid prison labor for road crews, maintenance, and public works.

The findings come as a proposed Georgia constitutional amendment — HR 1530, the “Ending Slavery in Georgia” amendment — would remove the slavery exception from the state constitution, following similar successful measures in seven other states since 2018. The Georgia Department of Corrections and the corrections industry oppose the measure.

Key Takeaway: Georgia forces approximately 80% of its 47,000 incarcerated people to work for $0 or nominal wages, generating over $164 million in combined state and county value annually — a system scholars trace directly to the convict leasing era.

Quotable Statistics

Modern Georgia Prison Labor:

• $0 — Wages paid to incarcerated people performing institutional maintenance in Georgia prisons. Georgia is one of several states that pays incarcerated workers nothing for this labor.
• 80% — Percentage of able-bodied incarcerated people in Georgia who participate in work programs. The vast majority receive no wages.
• $64 million — Revenue generated by Georgia Correctional Industries in FY2023, produced almost entirely through unpaid or minimally-paid prison labor.
• $100+ million — Estimated annual value Georgia counties receive from unpaid prison labor for road crews, maintenance, and public works.
• 47,000 — Approximate number of people incarcerated in Georgia state facilities (2024), making it one of the nation’s largest prison systems.
• 4th highest — Georgia’s ranking for incarceration rate among all U.S. states.
• 21 — Manufacturing plants operated by Georgia Correctional Industries using prison labor.
• 13,000+ acres — Farmland managed by Georgia Correctional Industries using prison labor.
• Up to 80% — Percentage of wages that can be deducted from the few prison workers enrolled in the federal Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program.

Racial Disparities — Then and Now:

• 60% — Percentage of Georgia’s current prison population that is Black, in a state where Black residents comprise approximately 33% of the general population (a disparity ratio of roughly 1.8:1).
• 90% — Percentage of Georgia’s convict leasing population that was Black in the late 19th century, when Black Georgians comprised approximately 45% of the state’s population.

Historical Convict Leasing (1866–1908):

• 10% to over 25% — Annual mortality rates in Georgia’s convict leasing camps during the 1870s and 1880s.
• 1 in 4 — Approximate proportion of convicts who died each year, according to an 1881 legislative investigation.
• 1–2% — Death rates in Northern prisons during the same period, meaning Georgia’s camps were 10–25 times deadlier.
• 100,000+ — Estimated number of Black Americans forcibly pressed into labor through the criminal justice system across the South between 1865 and 1945, with Georgia as one of the primary states (per Pulitzer Prize-winning research by Douglas Blackmon).

Private Probation:

• 250,000+ — Individuals on probation in Georgia at any given time, with a significant portion supervised by private companies.
• ~40 — Private probation companies operating in Georgia, more than any other state.
• $35–$50/month — Typical supervision fees charged by private probation companies, on top of court fines and fees.
• $2.4 million — Settlement paid by Judicial Correction Services in 2018 after a federal lawsuit alleged it operated a “judicially sanctioned extortion racket.”

Key Takeaway: Georgia pays incarcerated workers $0 for institutional labor, forces 80% of its prison population to work, and generates over $164 million in combined annual value — while maintaining racial disparities nearly identical in ratio to the convict leasing era.

Context and Background

What reporters need to know

The constitutional loophole: The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” This exception clause has provided continuous legal authorization for forced labor of convicted persons from 1865 to the present. It is the legal foundation of all compulsory prison labor in the United States.

Georgia’s convict leasing system (1866–1908): Beginning just one year after the 13th Amendment was ratified, Georgia leased people convicted of crimes — approximately 90% of whom were Black — to private companies including coal mines, brick factories, railroads, and turpentine camps. The state collected fees; the private operators kept the profits. An 1881 legislative investigation found that approximately 1 in 4 people in the system died each year. Political elites including former Confederate Governor Joseph E. Brown and the “Bourbon Triumvirate” became enormously wealthy from the system while blocking reform for decades. According to scholars, convict leasing generated more revenue per capita for Georgia than any other state function in the 1880s and 1890s.

The chain gang era (1908–1940s): When Georgia abolished convict leasing in 1908, the state replaced it with county-based chain gangs. People were chained together, worked under armed guard, housed in mobile cages, and subjected to whipping and other brutal punishment. The system gained national notoriety through Robert Elliott Burns’ 1932 memoir “I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang!” and journalist John L. Spivak’s exposé “Georgia Nigger.”

Modern prison labor: Today, the Georgia Department of Corrections oversees approximately 47,000 people across 34 state prisons, 8 transitional centers, and other facilities. Georgia Correctional Industries operates 21 manufacturing plants and over 13,000 acres of farmland. Products include furniture, license plates, cleaning chemicals, clothing, and food. Workers receive no pay or nominal pay. The GDC estimates 80% of able-bodied incarcerated people participate in work programs.

The reform movement: Seven states have removed the slavery exception from their constitutions since 2018: Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont. Nevada followed in 2024. Georgia’s HR 1530, introduced in 2026, would put a similar amendment before Georgia voters.

Private probation: Georgia leads the nation in the use of private probation companies. Approximately 40 companies supervise hundreds of thousands of people, charging monthly fees of $35–$50. Failure to pay can result in incarceration — a practice the Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional but which continues in practice, according to a 2015 Human Rights Watch report.

Prisoner resistance: In December 2010, thousands of Georgia prisoners across multiple facilities staged a coordinated work stoppage — one of the largest prisoner strikes in U.S. history. They demanded fair wages, educational opportunities, better healthcare, nutritious food, and an end to cruel and unusual punishment. Georgia prisoners also participated in the 2016 nationwide prison strike.

Key Takeaway: The same constitutional exception clause has authorized forced labor in Georgia from 1866 to present, with the system evolving from convict leasing to chain gangs to modern prison labor while maintaining racial disparities and generating significant revenue.

Story Angles

1. “Slavery by Another Name” — Georgia’s $164 Million Free-Labor Economy

Georgia extracts an estimated $164 million or more in annual value from unpaid prison labor ($64 million through Georgia Correctional Industries plus $100+ million in county work details). Reporters could investigate which companies, agencies, and municipalities benefit from this labor; what products Georgia consumers buy that are made by unpaid incarcerated workers; and how much the state would have to pay if it compensated prison workers at minimum wage. The story could profile individuals who worked for years without pay and examine what happens to people released with no savings after years of forced labor.

2. The Racial Through-Line: From 90% to 60%

The research documents a striking continuity in racial disparities: Georgia’s convict leasing population was roughly 90% Black when Black Georgians were 45% of the population; today, the prison population is 60% Black while Black Georgians are 33% of the population. The disparity ratio has barely changed — from roughly 2:1 to 1.8:1. Reporters could investigate the specific mechanisms that maintain this disparity today, from policing and prosecution patterns to sentencing, and compare Georgia’s racial disparity in incarceration to other states.

3. HR 1530: Can Georgia End Its Constitutional Exception for Slavery?

Seven states have already removed the slavery exception from their constitutions. Georgia’s HR 1530 would put the question to voters. Reporters could cover the legislative fight — who supports and opposes the amendment, and why? The GDC and corrections industry argue that eliminating compulsory labor would increase incarceration costs. Advocates argue it would force the state to treat incarcerated workers as workers. This is a live legislative story with clear human stakes, national context, and bipartisan interest.

Read the Source Document

The full research document, Georgia’s Convict Leasing Program: Historical Origins and Modern Prison Labor (1866–Present), is available in the GPS Research Library.

Other Versions

This briefing is the Media version of our analysis. Other versions are available:

• Public Version — Plain-language summary for general audiences
• Legislator Version — Policy-focused brief for lawmakers and staff
• Advocate Version — Action-oriented analysis for organizers and advocates