Commissioner : Homer Bryson

Director of Public Affairs : Joan Heath

FORSYTH, Ga. – Georgia Department of Corrections’ (GDC) Commissioner Homer Bryson announced that offenders transported to other facilities during the mandatory evacuation of coastal Georgia last week, have been returned to their original facilities. A total of 1,543 offenders had been safely transported to other facilities in response to the threat posed by Hurricane Matthew.

“Part of our commitment to ensuring our facilities are safe and secure meant that before returning the offenders, we conducted extensive assessments of affected facilities for damage,” said Commissioner Bryson. “Following those assessments, and the restoration of water and electrical services throughout the coastal area, we determined it was safe to return offenders to their original facilities,” added Bryson.

Since the movement of all offenders is complete, visitation will be conducted at both Coastal State Prison and Coastal Transitional Center this weekend, October 15-16.

“The evacuation of the facilities and the return of offenders were handled safely and efficiently by our staff, and I am proud of the work they did during this emergency and continue to do every day,” said Bryson. 

The GDC has one of the largest prison systems in the U.S. and is responsible for supervising nearly 52,000 state prisoners. It is the largest law enforcement agency in the state with approximately 10,500 employees.