Georgia corrections facilities study committee adopts final report

Georgia officials should leverage public-private partnerships to expand the capacity of the Georgia Department of Corrections.

The Georgia Department of Corrections Facilities Senate Study Committee included that recommendation in its final committee report, which it adopted on Friday. The report outlines findings and recommendations to guide Georgia’s approach to employee and inmate safety within the Georgia Department of Corrections.

“This committee has heard an abundance of valuable testimony since August,” Majority Whip Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, said in a release. “Our committee’s recommendations aim to enhance safety, promote fairness and support the Department of Corrections officers and the inmates they care for around the clock. I am grateful to each committee member for their dedication to this important issue and to the Lieutenant Governor for his unwavering support of our work.”

The committee, established through Senate Resolution 570, spent nearly four months exploring strategies to enhance the welfare of Department of Corrections employees and those in its custody.

“I also want to thank the Georgia taxpayers who came to the Capitol to share their experiences and suggestions. These citizens fund our budget and trust us to spend their tax dollars on worthwhile projects that provide quality care to those in our custody,” Robertson said. “As a former law enforcement officer, the welfare of our corrections officers and the inmates they protect will always be of utmost importance to me.”

Key highlights include:

1. Increasing mental health services available to incarcerated population and staff.
2. Investing in correctional officer recruitment and retention.
3. Asking the Georgia Department of Audits to review all contract renewals for the past five years to see if there is a pattern of runaway costs by any vendors.
4. Implementing a pay study for all Georgia Department of Corrections employees.
5. Convert all existing facilities and construct all new facilities to single-person, single-cell facilities.
6. Advocating the federal government to allow state prisons to use cell phone and drone jamming technology.
7. Leveraging public-private partnerships to expand the capacity of the Georgia Department of Corrections.
8. Prioritizing the hardening of existing corrections facilities to ensure their longevity while ensuring upcoming facilities are built to modern standards of security.
9. Ensuring wardens adhere to consistent policies across facilities to prevent cultural differences within corrections facilities.

Earlier this year, Georgia’s attorney general said he wanted the Federal Communications Commission to lift its ban on cell phone jammers that bars state officials from using the devices to block contraband cell phones in jails and prisons. The agency bars cell phone “jammers,” a prohibition Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr Carr’s office said extends to state and local governments.

However, contraband cell phones make their way into jails and prisons. At the time of Carr’s June request, Georgia officials confiscated 8,074 contraband cell phones in 2023 and 5,482 in 2024.