# Food-service managers' pay: do bonuses depend on the food budget?

- Agency: Georgia Department of Corrections
- Requested by: Georgia Prisoners' Speak
- Request: R029790-061926
- Filed: 2026-06-19
- Status: Fulfilled (GDC answered on August 31, 2026. For one item (chains of command at the facilities) it asked us to name a time frame before estimating the cost.)
- Cost: $0.00 (No fee was charged.)
- Page: https://gps.press/records/r029790-061926/

We asked the Georgia Department of Corrections for any policy that pays food-service managers bonuses or incentives, including for spending less on food, the position descriptions for those jobs, and any such payments since fiscal 2019.

GDC said it identified no documents on performance-based pay, bonuses or merit pay for these positions, and pointed to its salary policies (SOP 104.29, Salary Regulations, and 104.71.19, Conditional Pay Supplements) on its website. It released the state job descriptions for Senior Manager, Food Services and Food Service Specialist Supervisor, the Georgia Correctional Industries food-service organization chart, and the state Food-Farm job code catalog with salary ranges (May 2026).

## Documents

| Document | Kind | Received | File |
|---|---|---|---|
| [State job description: Senior Manager, Food Services (FFM012)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/r029790-061926/FFM012_SR_Mgr__Food_Services.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-08-31 | 1 p., 6 KB |
| [State job description: Food Service Specialist Supervisor (FFT013)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/r029790-061926/FFT013_Food_Service_Spec_Supervisor.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-08-31 | 2 p., 8 KB |
| [Georgia Correctional Industries: food service organization chart](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/r029790-061926/Food_Service_Org_Chart.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-08-31 | 1 p., 45 KB |
| [State job code catalog: Food-Farm, with salary ranges (May 2026)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/r029790-061926/Job_Code_Catalog_-_Food_Farm_-_May_2026.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-08-31 | 8 p., 231 KB |

## What we asked for

> Subject: Open Records Request — Food-service management compensation & incentive policy To the Open Records Custodian, Office of Legal Services: Under the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq., The GDC Accountability Project, Inc. (Georgia Prisoners' Speak) — a Georgia nonprofit investigative-journalism organization that documents conditions in Georgia's prisons — respectfully requests copies of the following public records concerning the compensation of the Department's food-service management: the positions responsible for directing and managing food service at GDC facilities and statewide (including positions administered through Georgia Correctional Industries' Food & Farm Services). 1. Any policy, directive, standard operating procedure, or guideline governing performance-based pay, bonuses, incentive awards, merit pay, or "pay-for-performance" applicable to food-service management positions — including but not limited to the classifications titled "Director of Food Services," "Senior Manager, Food Services," "Food Services Manager," and any equivalent food-service management classification — together with any document identifying the performance metrics on which such pay is based. 2. The current official position description(s) and performance-evaluation standard(s)/form(s) for those food-service management classifications, including any portion that measures an employee's performance against food cost, food-budget adherence, cost-per-meal, per-meal cost, or food-cost "savings." 3. Any document that establishes food-service cost targets, "meal rates," per-meal cost goals, or food-budget "savings" goals, and any document that ties an employee's performance evaluation, compensation, bonus, incentive, or continued assignment to meeting those targets. 4. Records sufficient to show any performance-based payments, bonuses, incentive awards, or merit increases paid to persons in those food-service management positions for State Fiscal Years 2019 through the present, identified by position/classification and amount. (We are content to receive these summarized by position and facility; we do not require any record withheld by law.) 5. A record sufficient to identify the employer of record (GDC or Georgia Correctional Industries) and the division/office to which the facility food-service director positions report. We are flexible on scope and format and would be glad to narrow or prioritize any item to reduce your burden — please let us know what is easiest on your end. We would be grateful to receive the records electronically as PDFs to accountability@gps.press. We agree to pay reasonable copying and administrative costs up to $50; if you anticipate the cost will exceed that amount, please let us know beforehand so we can authorize it or narrow the request. We understand and accept any redactions required by law. Thank you very much for your time and assistance. Sincerely, The GDC Accountability Project, Inc. (Georgia Prisoners' Speak) 285 W Wieuca Rd NE, PMB #4153, Atlanta, GA 30342 accountability@gps.press https://gps.press
> 
> Please be specific with your request to narrow our search and respond to you quickly and efficiently.

## What happened

- 2026-06-19: Request filed through GDC's Open Records Center; GDC acknowledged it the same day.
- 2026-07-09: GDC said identifying the records was taking longer than expected.
- 2026-08-31: GDC answered item by item: no documents on performance-based pay or bonuses; position descriptions released; it pointed to its salary policies on its website.
- 2026-09-10: For the remaining item GDC said it would have to obtain chains of command for each facility, and asked for a time frame before giving a cost estimate.

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.