Greetings:
The Department of Corrections put it in writing: it will not release the causes of death for people who died in its custody from 2021 through 2023, citing a medical-records exemption. It released the same information until March 2024.
At Calhoun, Dooly, Washington and Wilcox, the department packs three Close security men into single-man cells while the commissioner tells senators single cells cut violence, and the homicide rate shows it.
GPS obtained and published the Gwinnett County district attorney’s file on a 2023 Phillips State Prison killing; a fellow prisoner was indicted for felony murder in May 2025 and pleaded guilty in October 2025 to life without parole, and no news outlet had reported it.
| 5 articles · 996 emails · 7 new advocates |
Significant work this period
The Department of Corrections put its refusal to release causes of death in writing
Asked for the general cause of death of people who died in its custody from 2021 through 2023, data the department previously released, the Department of Corrections answered in writing that it will not release it, citing a medical-records exemption in the Open Records Act. It released the same information until March 2024. We published our answer on the law and recorded the Department’s reply as its official position.
Listen to GPS articles, in English and Spanish
GPS articles now have a Listen button at the top, in English and in Spanish. It reads the full story aloud, word for word, and highlights each paragraph as it is read, so you can follow along on the page or just listen. All 28 of September’s articles are available now, and each new article gets its audio version shortly after it is published.
GPS Historical Data: Georgia’s prisons since 1925
A new public dataset follows Georgia’s state prisons year by year since 1925: deaths by cause, homicides, parole, time served and population, with the source, page and exact wording behind every figure. It’s available as a page, as CSV, and through GPS’s public data server at data.gps.press.
Families outside Georgia can now join the Advocate Network
If you live outside Georgia and someone you love is held in a Georgia prison, you can now join the GPS Advocate Network through that prison. Your weekly letters go to the legislators who represent the district where your loved one is held, and they never name the prison or your loved one.
New research: how Georgia’s prison ombudsman works, and how other states do it
We published a Research Library collection on the Department of Corrections’ Ombudsman and Inmate Affairs Unit: what the department says the office can and cannot do, the channels it tells families to use, and how independent corrections ombudsmen are set up in other states and under the federal Prison Oversight Act. Every entry quotes its source.
New research: the rules that limit family contact in Georgia prisons
We published the Department of Corrections’ own phone and visitation rules as a Research Library collection: a 20-person call list that can change twice a year, a 12-person visitor list that can change only in May and November, and a 2024 federal court order that barred the department from limiting a prisoner’s email contacts to that visitor list.
New research: what Georgia measures about trauma from prison, and what studies elsewhere show
We published a Research Library collection on PTSD and other mental-health harm from incarceration. We found no measured rate of PTSD among people in Georgia’s prisons or among people released from them. The Department of Corrections counts mental-health diagnoses, not trauma: its FY2023 annual report says 25.4% of the people in its custody have one. The collection sets out what researchers have measured elsewhere, including the harm from solitary confinement and the risk of death in the first weeks after release. Every entry quotes its source.
New research: the parole denials that cite “insufficient amount of time served”
We published a Research Library collection on the wording the Parole Board uses when it turns people down: “insufficient amount of time served to date given the nature and circumstances of your offense(s).” Court records in three federal lawsuits in the Northern District of Georgia quote it, each brought by someone serving a life sentence. Two were dismissed. In the third, Buttrum v. Herring, a claim that the parole process is a sham survived a motion to dismiss. We searched the Board’s annual reports back to 1977 and found no count of denials by reason. Every entry quotes its source.
The DA’s file on a 2023 Phillips State Prison killing, obtained and published
Gwinnett County’s District Attorney answered our records request on a 2023 Phillips State Prison killing: a fellow prisoner was indicted for felony murder in May 2025 and pleaded guilty in October 2025 to life without parole. No news outlet had reported it. We updated the article and published the indictment and sentence as produced.
The Warden Shall Notify: who Georgia’s prisons keep in the dark, and the law that lets them
GPS published a three-part accountability report: the 1984 Board rule that says the warden shall notify a prisoner’s family of serious injury or death, set against families who learned from a hospital intern, a contraband phone, other prisoners or Facebook; the Autry and Wilcox Legionella record, from the state’s confirmation to the Department’s written denial and the refilled prison; and the statutes that make every inmate file a confidential state secret, including the auditor exception the Parole Board’s law carries and the Department of Corrections’ law does not.
Upcoming events
Peaceful protest at Smith State Prison
Saturday, 24 October 2026, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Smith State Prison, 9676 Hwy 301 North, Glennville, GA 30427
Worldwide Chain Breakers is holding a peaceful protest outside Smith State Prison in Glennville, and everyone is welcome to attend. GPS encourages you to go. Organisers ask attendees to stay in lawful public areas, avoid blocking roads or entrances, and bring signs. Families, advocates, formerly incarcerated people, faith leaders, community members and organisations are all welcome. This is one of a monthly series, a different prison each month. The next one after this is at Macon State Prison on Saturday 28 November.
Peaceful protest at Macon State Prison
Saturday, 28 November 2026, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Macon State Prison, 2728 Hwy 49 South, Oglethorpe, GA 31068
Worldwide Chain Breakers is holding a peaceful protest outside Macon State Prison, and everyone is welcome to attend. GPS encourages you to go. Check the address before you set off: Macon State Prison is not in the city of Macon. It is in Oglethorpe, Macon County, about fifty miles southwest of the city, so put 2728 Hwy 49 South, Oglethorpe into your directions. Note the date too, it is the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Organisers ask attendees to stay in lawful public areas, avoid blocking roads or entrances, and bring signs. Families, advocates, formerly incarcerated people, faith leaders, community members and organisations are all welcome. This is one of a monthly series, a different prison each month.
Articles published
5 articles published, and 5 Spanish editions.
“I Am Telling You What I Saw”: A Letter From Georgia’s Women’s Prisons
September 30, 2026
Rachelle Terry spent more than two years in Georgia’s women’s prisons. This September she wrote to lawmakers and the Department of Corrections about what she saw. Her letter is published here in full, alongside what the state’s own records show for the two prisons that held her.
Three to a Cell: Georgia’s Commissioner Says Single Cells Cut the Violence. Four Prisons Do the Opposite.
September 26, 2026
Georgia’s corrections commissioner told senators single cells cut prison violence. At Calhoun, Dooly, Washington and Wilcox, GDC is packing more Close security men into single-man cells that hold three, at prisons built for 500 and holding up to 1,800, and the homicide rate shows it.
Five Questions for Georgia’s Next Attorney General
September 26, 2026
On August 25 we sent the same five questions to both nominees for Georgia Attorney General, on the Justice Department’s prison findings, deaths in custody, open records, oversight and habeas. Sen. Brian Strickland answered. No answers were received from Rep. Tanya Miller. His answers are here in full.
How a Family Gets Medical Information Out of a Georgia Prison
September 20, 2026
A mother asked how to get a medical power of attorney or a HIPAA release for her son in a Georgia prison. Here is the answer from GDC’s own policies and the state’s own forms: two documents he has to sign, and one rule that says the warden is supposed to call you first.
The Warden Shall Notify: Who Georgia’s Prisons Keep in the Dark, and the Law That Lets Them
September 19, 2026
A 1984 rule says the warden shall notify a prisoner’s family when he is badly hurt. Family after family since December 2024 found out instead from an intern, a contraband phone, other prisoners or Facebook. The Department told the men at Autry there was no outbreak. And the statute that makes every inmate file a state secret is missing the one sentence the Parole Board’s has.
Postal Mailings this period
Advocacy letters: 3.
Emails sent on your behalf
996 emails sent on your behalf: 989 legislative, 7 advocacy.
Open records requests
55 open records requests were made this period, to 12 different agencies or offices. This figure comes from the GPS open-records registry, which records every request GPS files no matter how it was sent.
New advocates
7 new advocates joined this period.
Explore GPS
Two corners of GPS worth a look:
Ask GPS Lighthouse (AI)
Ask anything about Georgia’s prison system and get answers drawn from GPS’s investigative archive, court records, and data, free and with no login. https://gps.press/ask-ai/
GPS Quote Bank
A searchable archive of voices from inside and around Georgia’s prisons: the words behind the reporting, sourced and citable. https://gps.press/quote-bank/
The GPS Team, accountability@gps.press