GPS RESEARCH LIBRARY: Georgia Board of Corrections meeting record 2015-2026 (corpus) ============================================================ Georgia Prisoners' Speak — gps.press Generated: 2026-09-14 13:24:15 EDT Research Date: 2026-09-06 Topic: Governance/Oversight JSON: https://gps.press/research-data/georgia-board-of-corrections-meeting-record-2015-2026-corpus/?format=json SUMMARY ---------------------------------------- This corpus description documents the Georgia Board of Corrections meeting record from 2015-2026, comprising 207 documents (109 minutes, 98 summaries) spanning 113 meeting dates and 496 pages. The analysis reveals significant gaps in the published record—31 gap months including an unexplained four-month hole from April to July 2020—and shows that Board votes are almost entirely procedural, with only one denied motion and one recorded dissent in eleven years. Notably, the terms 'design capacity' and 'overcrowding' never appear across all 496 pages, suggesting the Board's published record systematically avoids addressing prison population conditions. STATISTICS (16) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Total Board of Corrections documents in corpus The corpus contains 207 documents: 109 minutes and 98 summaries. Value: 207.0 documents Tags: operations,policy Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Distinct Board meeting dates in corpus The corpus covers 113 distinct meeting dates, from 15 January 2015 to 3 June 2026. Value: 113.0 meeting dates Tags: operations Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Total pages in Board of Corrections corpus The corpus contains 496 pages of text, with page boundaries preserved so a citation is a page. Value: 496.0 pages Tags: operations Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Attendance rows in Board of Corrections corpus The corpus contains 6,877 attendance rows covering 979 names exactly as the documents print them. Value: 6877.0 attendance rows Tags: operations Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Unique names in Board of Corrections attendance records The 6,877 attendance rows cover 979 unique names exactly as the documents print them. Value: 979.0 names Tags: operations Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Parsed motions in Board of Corrections corpus The corpus contains 450 parsed motions, each holding the motion sentence and the vote sentence verbatim. Value: 450.0 motions Tags: operations,policy Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Gap months in Board of Corrections published record Of the 141 months from January 2015 to September 2026, 31 hold neither a minutes document nor a summary. Value: 31.0 months (vs. 141 total months) Tags: data_gap,operations Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Motions approving minutes Of 450 motions across eleven years, 108 concern approving the minutes. Value: 108.0 motions (vs. 450 total motions) Tags: operations,policy Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Motions approving the agenda Of 450 motions across eleven years, 107 concern approving the agenda. Value: 107.0 motions (vs. 450 total motions) Tags: operations,policy Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Motions concerning resolutions Of 450 motions across eleven years, 80 concern a resolution. Value: 80.0 motions (vs. 450 total motions) Tags: operations,policy Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Motions concerning personnel appointments Of 450 motions across eleven years, 23 concern a personnel appointment. Value: 23.0 motions (vs. 450 total motions) Tags: operations,staffing Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Motions concerning executive session Of 450 motions across eleven years, 19 concern an executive session. Value: 19.0 motions (vs. 450 total motions) Tags: operations,policy Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Motions concerning property items Of 450 motions across eleven years, 16 concern a property item. Value: 16.0 motions (vs. 450 total motions) Tags: operations,policy Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Motions concerning contracts One motion in eleven years concerns a contract. Value: 1.0 motion (vs. 450 total motions) Tags: operations,policy Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Motions concerning construction One motion in eleven years concerns construction. Value: 1.0 motion (vs. 450 total motions) Tags: operations,facilities Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Pages containing the word 'capacity' The word 'capacity' appears on 13 pages across the corpus, in contexts such as bed capacity in private prisons and dorm capacity. Value: 13.0 pages Tags: facilities,conditions Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries FINDINGS (4) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Unexplained gap months in Board record Six gap months carry no cancellation anywhere in the corpus: April, May, June and July 2020, May 2023, and May 2025 (which the record explains as a move rather than a cancellation). Tags: data_gap,operations Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Board votes are almost entirely procedural Of 450 motions across eleven years, 108 concern approving the minutes, 107 the agenda, 80 a resolution, 23 a personnel appointment, 19 an executive session and 16 a property item. One concerns a contract. One concerns construction. Contracts, construction and population figures are described in the Commissioner's Report and appear in the page text, but they are not what the Board votes on. Tags: operations,policy,methodology_note Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] Board votes to cancel July and August meetings most years Most gap months are explained by the Board's own record: it votes most years to cancel the July and August meetings for the summer, and says so a meeting or two ahead. Tags: operations,policy Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries - [confirmed] May 2025 gap explained as a move May 2025 is a gap month that the record explains as a move rather than a cancellation. Date: 2025-01-01 Tags: operations,data_gap Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries DATA GAPS (3) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] April-July 2020 gap in Board record April to July 2020 is the largest hole in the published record. The March 2020 minutes announce the next meeting and the next published document is the August 2020 minutes. Date: 2020-01-01 Tags: data_gap,operations Sources: GDC Board Meeting Minutes March 2020 - [confirmed] May 2023 meeting scheduled but never published May 2023 runs the other way: a meeting was scheduled and named, and no record of it was ever published. The April 2023 minutes, page 4, print: 'Corrections meeting is on May 4, 2023, at Telfair State Prison, in Helena, Georgia.' Date: 2023-01-01 Tags: data_gap,operations Sources: GDC Board Meeting Minutes April 2023 - [confirmed] Design capacity and overcrowding absent from Board record Across all 496 pages, from January 2015 to June 2026, neither 'design capacity' nor 'overcrowding' appears once. The word 'capacity' appears on 13 pages, in contexts such as bed capacity in private prisons and dorm capacity. This is a statement about these 207 documents only. Tags: data_gap,conditions,facilities Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries QUOTES (2) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Only denied motion in eleven years 1 September 2016, page 3: 'Mr. Duke Blackburn made the motion to disapprove the appointment, which was seconded by Mr. Tommy Rouse, and the appointment was voted denied by the Board.' Date: 2016-09-01 Tags: operations,staffing Sources: GDC Board Meeting Minutes September 2016 - [confirmed] Only recorded dissent in eleven years 2 November 2023, page 4: 'Ms. Andrea Shelton made the motion to approve, which was seconded by Mr. Lou Solis Jr. Ms. Janelle King opposed with no discussion; however, since the rest of the Board approved, the vote to approve all five individuals' employment were voted "approved" by the Board.' Date: 2023-11-02 Tags: operations,staffing Sources: GDC Board Meeting Minutes November 2023 METHODOLOGY NOTES (1) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Recent Board documents published on per-meeting event pages GDC files its recent Board documents on the per-meeting event page rather than in the Board of Corrections section. 43 of the 207 documents, covering every meeting from February 2024 to June 2026, are reachable only that way. A search of the Board section alone stops in September 2023 and gives the false impression that the record ends there. Tags: operations,methodology_note,data_gap Sources: GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries DATASETS (2) ---------------------------------------- # Board of Corrections motion types (2015-2026) Distribution of 450 parsed motions by type across eleven years of Board of Corrections meeting records. Motion Type Count ------------------------------ Approve minutes 108 Approve agenda 107 Resolution 80 Personnel appointment 23 Executive session 19 Property item 16 Contract 1 Construction 1 # Board of Corrections gap months (2015-2026) Months with neither a minutes document nor a summary in the published Board of Corrections record, with explanation status. Month Year Explanation ---------------------------------- April 2020 Unexplained May 2020 Unexplained June 2020 Unexplained July 2020 Unexplained May 2023 Unexplained May 2025 Explained as a move KEY ENTITIES (8) ---------------------------------------- - Andrea Shelton [person]: Former Board of Corrections member appointed in June 2014 by Governor Nathan Deal. - Duke Blackburn [person]: Board member who made the motion to disapprove an appointment on 1 September 2016, the only denied motion in eleven years. (aka: Mr. Duke Blackburn) - Georgia Board of Corrections [organization]: Governing board that issues rules for Georgia prison operations, including Rule 125-4-2-.08 (Library) and Rule 125-2-4-.17 - Georgia Department of Corrections [organization]: State agency responsible for operating Georgia's prison system. Subject of federal DOJ investigation in 2022-2023 for constitutional violations including food-related deaths. (aka: GDC) - Janelle King [person]: Board member who opposed the employment approval motion on 2 November 2023, the only recorded dissent in eleven years. (aka: Ms. Janelle King) - Lou Solis Jr. [person]: Board member who seconded the motion to approve employment on 2 November 2023. (aka: Mr. Lou Solis Jr.) - Telfair State Prison [facility]: Georgia state prison involved in Operation Ghost Busted (Desiree Briley) and Operation Night Drop drone smuggling network. - Tommy Rouse [person]: Board member who seconded the motion to disapprove an appointment on 1 September 2016. (aka: Mr. Tommy Rouse) SOURCES (8) ---------------------------------------- - GDC Board Meeting May 2026 Event Page, Georgia Department of Corrections by Georgia Department of Corrections (2026-05-01) [official_report, primary] URL: https://gdc.georgia.gov/events/2026-05-07/board-meeting-may-2026 - GDC Board Meeting Minutes April 2023, Georgia Department of Corrections by Georgia Department of Corrections (2023-04-01) [official_report, primary] URL: https://gdc.georgia.gov/document/board-meeting-minutes/board-meeting-minutes-april-2023/download - GDC Board Meeting Minutes March 2020, Georgia Department of Corrections by Georgia Department of Corrections (2020-03-01) [official_report, primary] URL: https://gdc.georgia.gov/document/board-meeting-minutes/board-meeting-minutes-march-2020/download - GDC Board Meeting Minutes November 2023, Georgia Department of Corrections by Georgia Department of Corrections (2023-11-01) [official_report, primary] URL: https://gdc.georgia.gov/document/board-meeting-minutes/board-meeting-minutes-november-2023/download - GDC Board Meeting Minutes September 2016, Georgia Department of Corrections by Georgia Department of Corrections (2016-09-01) [official_report, primary] URL: https://gdc.georgia.gov/document/board-meeting-minutes/board-meeting-minutes-september-2016/download - GDC Board Meeting Summaries Index, Georgia Department of Corrections by Georgia Department of Corrections [official_report, primary] URL: https://gdc.georgia.gov/organization/about-gdc/board-corrections/board-meeting-summaries - GDC Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Summaries, Georgia Department of Corrections by Georgia Department of Corrections [official_report, primary] URL: https://gdc.georgia.gov/organization/about-gdc/board-corrections/board-meeting-minutes - GPS Board Minutes Corpus Analysis, Georgia Prisoners' Speak by GPS-Workshop (2026-01-01) [gps_original, primary]