Georgia Prisons | DOC | Prison Inmate Search

Clicking on any of the Georgia facilities below will direct you to an information page with Inmate Search, Visitation, Mail, Phone, Email, Most Wanted and FAQ for families and friends.

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Georgia Department of Corrections - Prisons & Inmate Search

Georgia State Prisons and Juvenile Facilities

More than 50,000 people are serving felony sentences in prisons run by the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC), one of the largest state prison systems in the nation. About 8% of them are women. Three out of four were convicted of violent or sexual offenses, according to figures the department presented in September 2025. The agency was formed in 1969 and moved its headquarters from Atlanta to the former Tift College campus in Forsyth in the late 2000s.

Prisons, private prisons and county prisons

Georgia’s system is a patchwork. Along with its own prisons, the state houses many prisoners in private and county-run facilities:

36 state prisons, among them Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Wilcox State Prison in Abbeville and Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe
Women’s prisons: Lee Arrendale State Prison (Alto), Pulaski State Prison (Hawkinsville), Emanuel Women’s Facility (Swainsboro), Whitworth Women’s Facility (Hartwell) and McRae State Prison in Telfair County, a former private lockup for federal prisoners that the state bought to house women
4 private prisons: Coffee, Jenkins, Riverbend and Wheeler, with Wheeler and Coffee the largest prisons in the state by capacity
21 county prisons that hold state prisoners under contract, a Georgia tradition dating back to the chain-gang era
13 transitional centers for work release near the end of a sentence, plus probation detention centers and substance abuse treatment facilities

Where do new prisoners go first?

Once a man is sentenced to prison, the county jail transfers him to the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, about 45 miles south of Atlanta. Women go through a separate intake process at a women’s facility. Staff run medical and psychological screenings, review the person’s criminal history and set a security level. The person then moves to a permanent prison, which can be anywhere in the state. Visiting rules during intake are limited, so families should check with GDC before planning a trip.

Finding someone in a Georgia prison

GDC’s Find an Offender page lets you search current and former prisoners by name or by GDC ID number. Results list the person’s current facility, sentence and expected release date. You’ll need the GDC ID for mail and visitation.

A system in crisis

In October 2024 the U.S. Department of Justice found that conditions in Georgia prisons violate the Constitution, citing rampant violence, gang control, weapons and drugs, and deep understaffing. That year some facilities had 70% or more of officer jobs vacant, and Valdosta State Prison had 80% unfilled as of April. Gov. Brian Kemp responded in early 2025 with a plan to spend more than $600 million over 18 months on staffing, security upgrades and repairs.

Construction of a new prison in Washington County, near Davisboro, was set to start in summer 2026 to replace Washington State Prison, which opened in 1991. Lawmakers approved $436.7 million for the project. The aging Georgia State Prison in Reidsville closed in 2022.

Death penalty

Georgia has the death penalty. Its death row held 33 people on June 30, 2026: 32 men at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison and one woman at Lee Arrendale State Prison. Executions take place at the Jackson prison by lethal injection, the method since 2000; before that Georgia used the electric chair, which it moved from Milledgeville to Reidsville in 1938 and to Jackson in 1980. The state has carried out 77 executions since resuming in 1983. The most recent was Willie James Pye on March 20, 2024. On September 15, 2026, a Cobb County judge halted the execution of Stacey Humphreys, set for the next day, so he could have a hearing under Georgia’s new Survivor Justice Act, and the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the stay.

Georgia juvenile facilities

The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) runs both youth detention and long-term commitment, rather than leaving detention to counties. Its 19 Regional Youth Detention Centers (RYDCs) hold young people waiting for court or for placement, and its 6 Youth Development Campuses (YDCs) hold youth a judge has committed to the state. Since 2025, two of the RYDCs, Wilkes and Cadwell, have served as transition and reintegration centers. DJJ has also asked for money to rebuild its aging girls’ campus in East Macon. Juvenile records are confidential, so parents and guardians should reach out to DJJ or the youth’s case manager directly.

To search for an inmate or juvenile, or to learn how to visit, call, write or send money to someone in the Georgia Department of Corrections or Department of Juvenile Justice, choose a facility from the list below.