Georgia lawmakers seek answers to deaths and violence plaguing the state’s prisons

Associated Press/Report for America

ATLANTA (AP) — Statistics presented to Georgia lawmakers indicate that the state’s prisons remain seriously understaffed and plagued by violence and deaths. A legislative committee meeting for the second time to get answers and find solutions to the crisis got an overview of the numbers on Wednesday from Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver. According to the statistics, 981 people have died in Georgia prisons since 2021, including 207 this year alone. The cause of 98 of those deaths is unknown. Oliver said officials are investigating 36 as homicides. Some employees have been charged with sexual assault, battery, participation in gang activity and smuggling drugs.