GPS RESEARCH LIBRARY: Suicide in Georgia State Prisons: The Documented Rise (2001–2021) and the Reporting Blackout After It ============================================================ Georgia Prisoners' Speak — gps.press Generated: 2026-08-05 06:27:58 EDT Research Date: 2026-08-03 Topic: Mortality/Deaths in Custody JSON: https://gps.press/research-data/suicide-in-georgia-state-prisons-the-documented-rise-20012021-and-the-reporting-blackout-after-it/?format=json SUMMARY ---------------------------------------- This document analyzes suicide trends in Georgia state prisons, documenting a dramatic rise from 7 deaths in 2015 to 29 in 2020, with a 2015–2019 rate of 31 per 100,000—significantly exceeding national and regional averages. It identifies a critical reporting blackout beginning after 2021, as federal data collection ceased and Georgia stopped publishing cause-of-death information, leaving no official suicide counts for subsequent years. The analysis cross-validates UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project figures against Bureau of Justice Statistics data and contextualizes GPS's own mortality registry as a severe undercount, while noting that the rise is specific to GDC facilities and not part of a broader statewide trend. STATISTICS (39) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicides 2015 7 suicides in Georgia state prisons in 2015. Value: 7.0 suicides Date: 2015-01-01 Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicides 2016 7 suicides in Georgia state prisons in 2016. Value: 7.0 suicides Date: 2016-01-01 Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicides 2017 19 suicides in Georgia state prisons in 2017. Value: 19.0 suicides Date: 2017-01-01 Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicides 2018 17 suicides in Georgia state prisons in 2018. Value: 17.0 suicides Date: 2018-01-01 Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicides 2019 24 suicides in Georgia state prisons in 2019. Value: 24.0 suicides Date: 2019-01-01 Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project - [reported] Georgia prison suicides 2020 29 suicides in Georgia state prisons in 2020. Value: 29.0 suicides Date: 2020-01-01 Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project - [reported] Georgia prison suicides 2021 23 suicides in Georgia state prisons in 2021. Value: 23.0 suicides Date: 2021-01-01 Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide count 2001-2004 22 suicides in Georgia state prisons from 2001 to 2004. Value: 22.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide count 2005-2009 30 suicides in Georgia state prisons from 2005 to 2009. Value: 30.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide count 2010-2014 19 suicides in Georgia state prisons from 2010 to 2014. Value: 19.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide count 2015-2019 74 suicides in Georgia state prisons from 2015 to 2019. Value: 74.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide total 2001-2019 145 total suicides in Georgia state prisons from 2001 to 2019. Value: 145.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide rate 2015-2019 Georgia's 2015–19 suicide rate of 31 per 100,000 prisoners exceeded the U.S. total (21), the all-states figure (22), and the South (24). Value: 31.0 per 100,000 prisoners (vs. 21 U.S. total rate) Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide rate 2001-2004 Georgia state prison suicide rate of 11 per 100,000 prisoners from 2001 to 2004. Value: 11.0 per 100,000 prisoners Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide rate 2005-2009 Georgia state prison suicide rate of 11 per 100,000 prisoners from 2005 to 2009. Value: 11.0 per 100,000 prisoners Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide rate 2010-2014 Georgia state prison suicide rate of 8 per 100,000 prisoners from 2010 to 2014. Value: 8.0 per 100,000 prisoners Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia prison suicide period average rate 2001-2019 Georgia state prison suicide period average rate of 15 per 100,000 prisoners from 2001 to 2019. Value: 15.0 per 100,000 prisoners Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide count 2001-2004 75 suicides in Georgia county jails from 2001 to 2004. Value: 75.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide count 2005-2009 68 suicides in Georgia county jails from 2005 to 2009. Value: 68.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide count 2010-2014 66 suicides in Georgia county jails from 2010 to 2014. Value: 66.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide count 2015-2019 73 suicides in Georgia county jails from 2015 to 2019. Value: 73.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide total 2001-2019 282 total suicides in Georgia county jails from 2001 to 2019. Value: 282.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide rate 2001-2004 Georgia county jail suicide rate of 40 per 100,000 from 2001 to 2004. Value: 40.0 per 100,000 Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide rate 2005-2009 Georgia county jail suicide rate of 30 per 100,000 from 2005 to 2009. Value: 30.0 per 100,000 Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide rate 2010-2014 Georgia county jail suicide rate of 31 per 100,000 from 2010 to 2014. Value: 31.0 per 100,000 Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide rate 2015-2019 Georgia county jail suicide rate of 36 per 100,000 from 2015 to 2019. Value: 36.0 per 100,000 Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia county jail suicide period average rate 2001-2019 Georgia county jail suicide period average rate of 34 per 100,000 from 2001 to 2019, below the national jail average of 43. Value: 34.0 per 100,000 (vs. 43 National jail average) Tags: suicide,death,jails Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] DCRA underreporting: 40% of deaths missing During the last three months of 2019, state prisons and local jails reported 1,264 in-custody deaths to BJS and 744 in-custody deaths to BJA, meaning that about 40% of the deaths reported to BJS were not reported to BJA. Value: 40.0 percent Date: 2019-01-01 Tags: data_gap,death,methodology Sources: Congressional Research Service: Death in Custody Reporting Act: Background and Legislative Considerations - [reported] GAO identified nearly 1,000 unreported in-custody deaths in FY2021 GAO separately identified nearly 1,000 in-custody deaths in FY2021 that states did not report under DCRA. Value: 1000.0 deaths Date: 2021-01-01 Tags: data_gap,death,methodology Sources: Congressional Research Service: Death in Custody Reporting Act: Background and Legislative Considerations - [reported] GPS mortality registry total deaths GPS mortality registry contains 1,859 deaths from 2020-01-02 to 2026-07-20. Value: 1859.0 deaths Tags: death,facilities Sources: GPS Mortality Registry - [reported] GPS recorded suicides GPS mortality registry contains 67 recorded suicides. Value: 67.0 suicides Tags: suicide,death,facilities Sources: GPS Mortality Registry - [reported] GPS deaths with no documented cause 1,042 deaths (56%) in the GPS mortality registry still carry no documented cause. Value: 1042.0 deaths Tags: data_gap,death,facilities Sources: GPS Mortality Registry - [confirmed] GPS suicide registry as floor: 2020 comparison For 2020, UCLA records 29 suicides where GPS holds 4 (14%). Value: 14.0 percent Date: 2020-01-01 Tags: suicide,death,data_gap,methodology Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; GPS Mortality Registry - [confirmed] GPS suicide registry as floor: 2021 comparison For 2021, UCLA records 23 suicides versus GPS's 12 (52%). Value: 52.0 percent Date: 2021-01-01 Tags: suicide,death,data_gap,methodology Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; GPS Mortality Registry - [confirmed] GPS all-cause death count validation 2020 GPS all-cause death count for 2020: 294 vs UCLA 281. Value: 294.0 deaths (vs. 281 UCLA count) Date: 2020-01-01 Tags: death,methodology Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; GPS Mortality Registry - [confirmed] GPS all-cause death count validation 2021 GPS all-cause death count for 2021: 257 vs UCLA 247. Value: 257.0 deaths (vs. 247 UCLA count) Date: 2021-01-01 Tags: death,methodology Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; GPS Mortality Registry - [confirmed] GPS all-cause death count validation 2022 GPS all-cause death count for 2022: 254 vs UCLA 255. Value: 254.0 deaths (vs. 255 UCLA count) Date: 2022-01-01 Tags: death,methodology Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; GPS Mortality Registry - [confirmed] GPS all-cause death count validation 2023 GPS all-cause death count for 2023: 262 vs UCLA 262. Value: 262.0 deaths (vs. 262 UCLA count) Date: 2023-01-01 Tags: death,methodology Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; GPS Mortality Registry - [confirmed] GPS all-cause death count validation 2024 GPS all-cause death count for 2024: 333 vs UCLA 333. Value: 333.0 deaths (vs. 333 UCLA count) Date: 2024-01-01 Tags: death,methodology Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; GPS Mortality Registry FINDINGS (5) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Cross-validation of UCLA and BJS suicide counts 2015-2019 UCLA's 2015–19 suicides sum to 74, exactly matching the independently collected federal figure of 74 for Georgia 2015–19 in BJS Table 10, confirming the reliability of UCLA's 2020–21 figures. Tags: suicide,methodology Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [confirmed] Georgia jail suicides flat while prisons quadrupled Georgia's jails stayed flat on suicide counts while its state prisons quadrupled, ruling out a statewide or national trend, a general rise in suicide, or improved reporting as explanations. The change is specific to the Georgia Department of Corrections. Tags: suicide,death,facilities,trend Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [reported] GPS suicide source breakdown Of the 67 recorded suicides in the GPS registry, 61 were learned from a medical examiner, 5 from a person incarcerated, and 1 from a county coroner. None came from the Georgia Department of Corrections. Tags: suicide,death,data_gap,methodology Sources: GPS Mortality Registry - [confirmed] Ryals testimony corroborated by data Ryals's perception of suicides doubling is corroborated by two independent datasets and understates the measured rise: over his tenure the series runs from 7 (2015) to 24 (2019) to 29 (2020), a 3.4 to 4.1-fold increase. Tags: suicide,death,staff,trend Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019; GPS Witness Testimony: Tyler Ryals - [reported] Ryals as witness to blackout years Ryals remained employed through 2022, 2023 and most of 2024 — years for which no suicide data exists from any source. He is among the only available witnesses to the direction of the trend after public counting ceased. Tags: suicide,death,data_gap,staff Sources: GPS Witness Testimony: Tyler Ryals TRENDS (2) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Tripling of suicides in Georgia 2010-14 to 2015-19 The number of prisoners who died by suicide between 2010-14 and 2015-19 tripled in Georgia, with a multiple of 3.89x. Tags: suicide,death,facilities,trend Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [reported] Georgia prison deaths rose 108% from 2019 to 2024 UCLA records Georgia prison deaths rising 108% from 2019 to 2024. Tags: death,trend,facilities Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project METHODOLOGY NOTES (3) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] BJS MCI collection closure date BJS finished collection of deaths that occurred during the 2019 calendar year in December 2020, and formally closed the MCI collection on March 31, 2021. 2019 is the last federal data year. Tags: data_gap,methodology,death Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 - [reported] GPS suicide counts not a trend GPS's raw yearly suicide counts (4, 12, 12, 10, 11, 13 for 2020–2025) cannot be read as a trend. They track annual documentation coverage, which ranged from 33% to 52%. Expressed as a share of deaths with a documented cause, the series is flat at approximately 8%. Tags: suicide,death,methodology,data_gap Sources: GPS Mortality Registry - [confirmed] Maximum defensible data span for suicide series No comparable national series exists before 2001; BJS began annual collection of individual state-prison death records that year (local jails from 2000). The maximum defensible span is 2001–2019 federal plus 2020 onward from independent collection, with a documented seam. Tags: methodology,data_gap,suicide,death Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 LEGAL FACTS (1) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] DCRA data not publicly available BJA has not made any of the data it has collected through the DCRA program publicly available. DOJ officials stated that DCRA 2013 does not require DOJ to publish data the department collects from states and there are no plans to do so. Date: 2023-01-01 Tags: data_gap,legal,death,policy Sources: Congressional Research Service: Death in Custody Reporting Act: Background and Legislative Considerations DATA GAPS (3) ---------------------------------------- - [confirmed] Georgia death records carry no cause of death from 2022 From 2022, Georgia's own death records carry no cause of death at all. For every year after 2021 there is no suicide count for Georgia prisons from any source — state, federal, or academic. Tags: data_gap,suicide,death,facilities Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; GPS Mortality Registry - [disputed] Unresolved conflict on cause-of-death blackout date GPS's canonical position is that Georgia stopped publishing cause of death in March 2024. UCLA's Georgia records carry no cause from 2022. These are inconsistent and must be reconciled before either date is published. Tags: data_gap,death,methodology Sources: UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project; GPS Mortality Registry - [reported] GPS segregation flag data gap GPS cannot speak to the solitary-confinement/suicide association from its own data: the segregation flag is populated on only 1 of 67 recorded suicides. Tags: solitary,suicide,data_gap,conditions Sources: GPS Mortality Registry QUOTES (1) ---------------------------------------- - [reported] Tyler Ryals witness testimony on suicide doubling Tyler Ryals, a GDC officer, instructor and CERT Commander from 2014 to 2024 across five facilities, states that suicides doubled over his last few years of employment. This is his perception as a staff member, not a compiled figure. Tags: suicide,death,staff,facilities Sources: GPS Witness Testimony: Tyler Ryals DATASETS (5) ---------------------------------------- # Georgia State Prison Suicides by Year (UCLA) Annual suicide counts in Georgia state prisons from 2015 to 2021 as recorded by the UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project. Year Suicides ---------------- 2015 7 2016 7 2017 19 2018 17 2019 24 2020 29 2021 23 # Georgia State Prison Suicides by Period (BJS) Suicide counts and rates in Georgia state prisons by multi-year periods as reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Period Suicide Count Rate per 100,000 -------------------------------------------------- 2001-2004 22 11 2005-2009 30 11 2010-2014 19 8 2015-2019 74 31 2001-2019 Total 145 15 # Georgia County Jail Suicides by Period (BJS) Suicide counts and rates in Georgia county jails by multi-year periods as reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Period Suicide Count Rate per 100,000 -------------------------------------------------- 2001-2004 75 40 2005-2009 68 30 2010-2014 66 31 2015-2019 73 36 2001-2019 Total 282 34 # GPS vs UCLA All-Cause Death Count Validation Year-by-year comparison of all-cause death counts in Georgia prisons between GPS's mortality registry and UCLA's data. Year GPS Deaths UCLA Deaths ------------------------------- 2020 294 281 2021 257 247 2022 254 255 2023 262 262 2024 333 333 # GPS Raw Yearly Suicide Counts and Documentation Coverage GPS's raw yearly suicide counts for 2020-2025, with the caveat that they track documentation coverage (33%-52%) rather than actual incidence. Expressed as a share of deaths with a documented cause, the series is flat at approximately 8%. Year GPS Recorded Suicides ----------------------------- 2020 4 2021 12 2022 12 2023 10 2024 11 2025 13 KEY ENTITIES (11) ---------------------------------------- - Bureau of Justice Assistance [organization]: Federal agency within DOJ that assumed responsibility for DCRA data collection from BJS around 2019, after which data quality and transparency deteriorated significantly. (aka: BJA) - Bureau of Justice Statistics [organization]: Federal statistical agency within DOJ that collected and published mortality in correctional institutions data from approximately 2000 until 2019. (aka: BJS) - Congressional Research Service [organization]: Federal agency that published a report on DCRA background and legislative considerations. (aka: CRS) - Death in Custody Reporting Act [legislation]: Federal law originally passed in 2000 and updated in 2013 requiring states receiving Byrne JAG funding to report deaths of any person detained, arrested, or incarcerated to the Attorney General. (aka: DCRA, Public Law 113-242) - Department of Justice [organization]: Federal department that published a 2022 report identifying more than 5,000 uncounted in-custody deaths in national mortality data. (aka: DOJ) - Georgia county jails [facility]: County-level detention facilities in Georgia, used as a control group showing flat suicide trends. - 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) - Georgia Prisoners' Speak [organization]: Advocacy organization documenting conditions inside Georgia prisons through photos and insider accounts, including food inadequacy. (aka: GPS) - Government Accountability Office [organization]: Federal agency that published the 1998 Truth in Sentencing state grants report. (aka: GAO) - Tyler Ryals [person]: Former GDC correctional officer (2014–2024) who served as sergeant, emergency response team commander, gang coordinator, and instructor at Telfair, Valdosta, and Johnson State Prisons. Became a whistleblower in 2024 and was forced out of GDC. (aka: Chase Ryal) - UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project [program]: UCLA-based research project, formerly focused on COVID-19, now the most comprehensive independent source for all-cause mortality data in state and federal prisons. (aka: COVID Behind Bars Data Project, Behind Bars Data Project) SOURCES (5) ---------------------------------------- - Bureau of Justice Statistics: Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019, Bureau of Justice Statistics (2021-10-01) [official_report, primary] - Congressional Research Service: Death in Custody Reporting Act: Background and Legislative Considerations, Congressional Research Service (2023-05-17) [official_report, primary] - GPS Mortality Registry, Georgia Prisoners' Speak [gps_original, primary] - GPS Witness Testimony: Tyler Ryals, Georgia Prisoners' Speak by Tyler Ryals [gps_original, primary] - UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project: Custodial Mortality Project, UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project [academic, primary]