{ "meta": { "source": "Georgia Prisoners' Speak, open-records requests and the documents agencies released", "note": "Records requested under the Georgia Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq.), by Georgia Prisoners' Speak or, where a page says so, by another person or group who shared them with GPS. Documents marked \"as released\" are posted exactly as the agency released them. Files marked \"prepared by GPS\" are GPS's own compilations of those documents, made for convenience; where they differ, the released document governs. A request is published here when GPS cites it or when its records are useful to readers; records about individual deaths are published on GPS's mortality pages, not here.", "generated_at": "2026-10-30T05:53:32+00:00", "documentation": "https://gps.press/records/", "rest": "https://gps.press/wp-json/gps-public-records/v1/requests" }, "data": { "ref": "ORR-2026-786", "url": "https://gps.press/records/orr-2026-786/", "title": "Legionella records for Wilcox and Autry State Prisons: two DPH outbreak reports released, the rest withheld", "agency": "Georgia Department of Public Health", "agency_short": "DPH", "channel": "DPH open-records portal (JustFOIA)", "requested_by": "Georgia Prisoners' Speak", "shared_with_gps": false, "summary": "GPS asked the Georgia Department of Public Health for Legionella sampling results, laboratory reports, environmental assessments, outbreak-investigation records and correspondence with the Department of Corrections for Wilcox State Prison (from 2023) and Autry State Prison (from 2021). DPH said the records are confidential as \"information requested or collected as part of an outbreak or cluster investigation\" (its letter cites \"Ga. Rules and Reg. 511-2-1.03\") and released two redacted one-page outbreak reports: the interim report of one investigation, which it said is ongoing, and the final report of another. Outbreak 202403783 names Wilcox State Prison as the exposure location: waterborne Legionella, exposure on November 9, 2023, illness on November 16, 2023, reported to the state on December 1, 2023. Outbreak 20213040 is a waterborne Legionella outbreak at a \"Prison/Jail\" in Mitchell County, reported July 1, 2021, with the first illness on June 5, 2021; its exposure-location line is blank. On both reports the numbers of people ill, laboratory-confirmed and hospitalized are shown as asterisks, which the reports say means a number between 1 and 5 withheld to protect patient identity.", "request_text": "To the Open Records Officer and the Office of the General Counsel, Georgia\nDepartment of Public Health:\n\nPursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq., The GDC\nAccountability Project, Inc. (Georgia Prisoners' Speak), a Georgia nonprofit\ninvestigative journalism organization, submits this request.\n\nWe are filing it as a new request because the Department has now twice closed an\nidentical request by referring us to another agency, without producing a record,\ndescribing a record, or citing an exemption. The history is set out below so that\nthe Department has the full record in front of it, and so that this request does\nnot need to be reconstructed later.\n\n\nWHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR\n\nAugust 7, 2026. We directed a request to the South Health District. That office\nadvised us in writing that district record systems are siloed, and recommended\nthat we file with the state Department. Wilcox State Prison falls within the\nSouth Central Health District and Autry State Prison within the Southwest Health\nDistrict.\n\nAugust 13, 2026. Acting on that advice, we filed with the state Department. The\nrequest was docketed as ORR-2026-724 (portal reference R008289-081326).\n\nThe Department closed it, advising us to contact the Georgia Department of\nCorrections.\n\nWe then filed a second request, docketed ORR-2026-740. The Department proposed\ninstead to close the second request and reopen the first, so that the original\nAugust 13 filing date would be preserved. We agreed. On August 18, ORR-2026-724\nwas reopened and shown as In Progress with its August 13 submission date intact,\nand ORR-2026-740 was closed as the duplicate.\n\nAugust 31, 2026. The Department closed ORR-2026-724 a second time, with the same\nadvice to contact the Department of Corrections. No record was produced. No\nrecord was described. No exemption was cited.\n\nWe want to be plain about what that sequence means in practice. The reopening\nconsumed eighteen days and produced the same non-answer that preceded it.\n\n\nWHY THE DEPARTMENT IS THE CUSTODIAN\n\nWe ask the Department to consider that four of the six items below cannot be held\nby the Department of Corrections at all, and that two of them are records the\nDepartment necessarily holds in its own files.\n\nThe Department's own laboratory and assessment records. Legionella sampling\nresults, laboratory reports, environmental assessments and site visits are\ngenerated by the Department's Environmental Health program in the exercise of its\nown statutory function. They are not Department of Corrections records.\n\nThe Department's own public confirmation. In October 2022 the Department publicly\nconfirmed Legionella associated with Autry State Prison. That confirmation rests\non testing and an assessment the Department performed. The records underlying a\nDepartment announcement are Department records.\n\nThe Department's own correspondence. Two items below ask for correspondence\nbetween the Department and the Department of Corrections. An agency holds its own\nside of a correspondence by definition. A referral to the other party to that\ncorrespondence cannot be an answer to a request for it.\n\n\nTHE RECORDS REQUESTED\n\nWilcox State Prison, Abbeville, Wilcox County: January 1, 2023 to present\n\n1. All Legionella sampling results, laboratory reports, and environmental\n assessment records for any water system at the facility.\n\n2. All correspondence between the Department, state or district, and the Georgia\n Department of Corrections, or the facility itself, concerning Legionella or\n water quality at the facility.\n\n3. Records of any environmental health investigation, site visit, or technical\n consultation performed at the facility relating to water systems.\n\nAutry State Prison, Pelham, Mitchell County: January 1, 2021 to present\n\n4. All Legionella sampling results and laboratory reports, including the testing\n that led to the Department's confirmation reported publicly in October 2022.\n\n5. The environmental assessment or outbreak investigation record associated with\n that confirmation.\n\n6. All correspondence between the Department, state or district, and the Georgia\n Department of Corrections concerning Legionella at the facility, including any\n recommendations made regarding the transfer of the incarcerated population.\n\nWe ask that the search include records held by the state Environmental Health\nprogram and records held by or accessible from the South Central and Southwest\nHealth Districts.\n\n\nCONFIDENTIALITY, ADDRESSED IN ADVANCE\n\nWe understand that individual case reports are confidential under O.C.G.A.\n§ 31-12-2, and we are not requesting identifiable patient information. Where\nresponsive records contain it, aggregate or de-identified figures, such as the\nnumber of confirmed legionellosis cases associated with either facility by year,\nwould fully satisfy this request. We welcome any redaction the Department\nconsiders necessary.\n\n\nWHAT WE ASK THE DEPARTMENT TO DO\n\nIf responsive records exist, produce them.\n\nIf they exist but cannot be produced within three business days, please provide\nthe description and the timeline required by O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(b)(1)(A).\n\nIf the Department withholds any record, please cite the specific Code section,\nsubsection and paragraph that authorizes it, as O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(d) requires.\n\nIf the Department holds no responsive record, please say so plainly and in\nwriting, and describe the search performed.\n\nA referral to another agency is none of these things, and we ask the Department\nnot to close this request on that basis a third time.\n\nWe agree in advance to reasonable costs up to $50.00 and ask to be notified\nbefore that amount is exceeded. Electronic production to accountability@gps.press\nis preferred. We are glad to accept records in batches, or to narrow any item, if\nthat makes the search easier.\nThe GDC Accountability Project, Inc. (Georgia Prisoners' Speak)\n285 W Wieuca Rd NE, PMB #4153, Atlanta, GA 30342\naccountability@gps.press · https://gps.press", "date_filed": "2026-08-31", "date_last_response": "2026-09-10", "status": "partial", "status_label": "Partly fulfilled", "status_note": "DPH closed the request on September 10, 2026. It released the two outbreak reports and treated the rest as confidential outbreak-investigation information: no sampling results, laboratory reports, environmental assessments or DPH correspondence with the Department of Corrections were released.", "fee_amount": 0, "fee_note": "No fee charged", "timeline": [ { "date": "2026-08-31", "event": "Request filed through DPH's open-records portal." }, { "date": "2026-09-01", "event": "DPH acknowledged the request (ORR-2026-786) and said it expected to give a timeframe by September 4." }, { "date": "2026-09-04", "event": "DPH said it was working on the request and estimated production in one week." }, { "date": "2026-09-10", "event": "DPH closed the request. It released two redacted outbreak reports and a letter saying the other records are confidential as outbreak-investigation information." } ], "topics": [ "legionella", "water", "wilcox-state-prison", "autry-state-prison", "public-health" ], "cited_in": [], "published_at": "2026-10-28 20:21:58", "updated_at": "2026-10-28 20:21:58", "documents": [ { "title": "Outbreak Report 202403783: Legionella at Wilcox State Prison, reported December 1, 2023", "kind": "released", "kind_label": "As released by the agency", "description": "DPH outbreak report as released, redacted: waterborne Legionella, exposure location Wilcox State Prison, exposure November 9, 2023 and illness November 16, 2023, with county and state environmental health and state epidemiology involved; marked \"Published 27-AUG-26; data are preliminary\" (the second page is blank).", "url": "https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/orr-2026-786/Georgia-outbreak-Report-002_Redacted.pdf", "mime": "application/pdf", "bytes": 127744, "pages": 2, "sha256": "0672c82f964316b4527006c620650c68c8c9ce974aed253dc3634b78ac1f957f", "date_received": "2026-09-10" }, { "title": "Outbreak Report 20213040: Legionella at a prison or jail in Mitchell County, reported July 1, 2021", "kind": "released", "kind_label": "As released by the agency", "description": "One-page DPH outbreak report as released, redacted: waterborne Legionella at a \"Prison/Jail\" in Mitchell County, first illness June 5, 2021, investigation led by the state; the exposure-location line is blank, and the sheet is marked \"Published 27-AUG-26; data are preliminary.\"", "url": "https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/orr-2026-786/Georgia-outbreak-Report2_Redacted.pdf", "mime": "application/pdf", "bytes": 117379, "pages": 1, "sha256": "95b086001c797916c16cead5817e7183d1892b8f8e043f000d1cd93b296da87c", "date_received": "2026-09-10" }, { "title": "DPH's response letter (Word file)", "kind": "correspondence", "kind_label": "Correspondence", "description": "DPH's letter closing the request: the records sought are confidential under the outbreak-investigation rule, and it releases the interim report of one investigation, which is ongoing, and the final report of another.", "url": "https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/orr-2026-786/ORR-2026-786.docx", "mime": "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document", "bytes": 13672, "pages": null, "sha256": "6fb86f0694e200357821718de666a9e2fb9b8b15d62e6e7e576d358bd756524c", "date_received": "2026-09-10" } ] } }