VALDOSTA — Information regarding the violent attacks at Valdosta State Prison remains guarded, with no records made available by the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Access to documents pertaining to the 2007 attack of former Valdosta State Prison correctional officer William Bond through an Open Records request has been denied by the Department of Corrections, which indicated that this incident was part of an internal investigation.
“Internal Investigations have been declared privileged and confidential state secrets, as a matter of law, Official Code of Georgia Annotated Section 42-5-36(b), and, therefore, pursuant to Official Code of Georgia Annotated Section 50-18-70(b), said records are exempt from being open to inspection under the Open Records Act,” Rhoda McCabe, senior assistant counsel at the Georgia Department of Corrections’ legal office, explained.
In response to a request for documents pertaining to the July 2005 and June 2006 attacks of former officer William Lewis, the Valdosta State Prison advised McCabe that records concerning the July 2005 incident have been destroyed. McCabe stated that copies of the incident report from the June 2006 have been forwarded to the Department of Corrections’ legal office and will be made available. The Times continues to await this information.
The attacks on Bond and Lewis are two of several incidents at Valdosta State Prison that have recently been reported. Recent reports of violent incidents at Valdosta State Prison have triggered an uproar among former and present correctional officers who claim the inmates are out of control.
The outrage among past and present officers stems from the Oct. 25 attack of 19-year-old officer Zebedee Hankerson, who was beaten by at least three inmates while on duty at the prison. Hankerson’s brutal attack left him in need of surgery on his face and one of his eyes.
Other violent incidents include an Oct. 24 altercation between inmate Ronnie Hodge and an unidentified male, during which time Hodge was stabbed in his left shoulder and upper back, and an Oct. 31 altercation between two other inmates. This altercation resulted in one inmate being transported to the hospital for observation. The incident reportedly
involved someone being thrown from a second-floor balcony. However, the information was neither confirmed nor denied by the Department of Corrections.
Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney David Miller said that this year his office has handled five felony cases involving inmates at the prison, all of which remain open. The office prosecuted three single-defendant cases in 2008, four cases that involved six inmates in 2007, five cases involving seven inmates in 2006 and nine cases that involved 12 inmates in 2005.
The Times continues to receive reports from correctional officers who wish to remain anonymous to protect their jobs about conditions at the prison. Reported issues range from shortage of manpower to lack of disciplinary action for aggressive inmates.
Local News
Department of Corrections says records are ‘state secrets’ or destroyed
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