| Location | Jackson, Georgia USA |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Maximum Security / Death Row |
| Capacity | 2300 |
| Population | Adult Male Felons - 2,238 Inmates - 5.67% of state prison population.[1] |
| Opened | 1968 |
| Managed by | Georgia Department of Corrections |
| Governor | Nathan Deal |
| Warden | Carl Humphrey |
Opened in 1968, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison (GDCP) is a Georgia Department of Corrections prison for men in unincorporated Butts County, Georgia, near Jackson.[2] The prison holds the state execution chamber; the execution equipment was moved to the prison in June 1980, with the first execution in the facility occurring on December 15, 1983.[3] The prison houses the male death row (UDs, "under death sentence"), while female death row inmates reside in the Metro State Prison.[4]
The prison, the largest in the state, consists of eight cellblocks containing both double-bunked and single-bunked cells. There are also eight dormitories and a medical unit. The prison conducts diagnostic processing for the state correctional system, houses male offenders under death sentence (UDS), and carries out state ordered executions by lethal injection. The prison complex also contains a special management unit that houses some of the most aggressive and dangerous prisoners in the correctional system.
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The Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison serves as a central hub where sentenced felons begin the process of being admitted into the Georgia State Correctional System. Numerous county jails are paid by the state to house sentenced felons until space becomes available in the prison system. Sentenced felons may spend years in local jails until housing space becomes available in the state prison system. While at GDCP, inmates are either in the process of being classifed and tested, or they are assigned as a "permanent." Those inmates who are 'permanents' will serve their entire sentence at the GDCP, while the remainder of inmates will be tested and then moved to other prisons based on their classfications. Based on published research statistics by the Georgia Department of Corrections,[5] inmates who are being diagnosed and classified undergo a battery of tests and diagnostic questionnaires. Tests and diagnostic notations include: the culture fair IQ test; Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) (reading, math, and spelling); scope of substance abuse (summary & detailed report); latest mental health treatment; PULHESDWIT medical scale; criminality, alcoholism, and/or drug abuse in immediate family; one or both parents absent during childhood; manipulative or assaultive tendency diagnostics; and criminal history report with prior incarcerations and a full account of all previous and current offenses.
Georgia Department of Corrections male Death Row (Under Death Sentence - UDS) inmates are housed at the GDCP. The latest report (as of September 21, 2011) shows a total of ninety-six (96) male felons currently housed on Georgia's Death Row.[6] One female Death Row inmate resides in the Metro State Prison.[7]
The "Death House" is an isolated structure where state ordered executions are carried out. The "house" is a single-entrance fortified building, accessed only through the prison yard. Upon entry to the Death House, witnesses to executions are immediately located in an observation room, approximately 20' X 20' (6 m X 6 m), with three 16' (4.9 m) long wooden benches to seat them. When seated, a glass window is seen directly in front of the first row of benches. An access door to the left of the viewing window leads to the execution room. Immediately to the right of the observation room (but still within it) is a storage area that houses the non-functional electric chair (nicknamed "Sparky") that was used before the implementation of lethal injection. The execution room proper is approximately 8' X 12' and is occupied by a gurney outfitted with sheets and pillow. Continuing through the execution room, there is a holding room off of the right side as viewed from the observation room with a single-cell complex. The "Death Watch" cell consists of a standard holding cell, with a sink, toilet, and shower included within the one-cell complex. There is a small observation area immediately outside of the cell where two corrections officers are assigned to 24/7 security detail once an inmate is placed on "Death Watch." There is a private observation room with one-way glass directly behind the execution room that is accessed through the holding room. This room is where the old electrical supply panel is housed that energized the formerly used electric chair. Also, there are two circular line ports through the block wall where chemical lines are fed to the execution room. This room is where the executioners, warden, and other authorized personnel maintain watch over the execution and the administration of the lethal injection drugs: sodium thiopental that was previously used to induce unconsciousness; pancuronium bromide (Pavulon) to cause muscle paralysis and respiratory arrest; and potassium chloride to stop the heart.
The 50th convicted killer executed in Georgia since 1973 was Roy Willard Blankenship on June 23, 2011; it was the first execution carried out using a new sedative, pentobarbital, in place of sodium thiopental. In March 2011, agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized Georgia's supply of sodium thiopental, which attorneys for several death row inmates said Georgia had improperly imported from England. Hospira Inc. of Illinois, the only U.S. company that manufactured sodium thiopental, said in January it would stop making the drug after Italy, where it planned to move production, objected because the European Union has banned the death penalty. Several states have either run out of supplies of sodium thiopental or switched to pentobarbital, a barbiturate often used to euthanize animals.
The most recent execution was carried out on September 21, 2011 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison. Convicted murderer Troy Anthony Davis was the 29th inmate to be executed by lethal injection in the State of Georgia and the 52nd convicted murderer to be executed since 1976.[8]
Infamous Atlanta courthouse shooter Brian Nichols was transferred here to partake in his diagnostics for the Georgia DOC. Nichols poses a high escape risk. Due to this classification, Nichols is periodically moved within the prison complex so that he does not become accustomed to one area or established prison area routines. This information was provided by a prison official who is authorized to release this information.[9]
Carl Humphrey is the current Warden.[10]
Before GDC decided to relocate its headquarters to the former Tift College, in the 2000s it considered moving its headquarters to GDCP.[11]
Death row:
