Commissioner : Homer Bryson

Director of Public Affairs : Joan Heath

FORSYTH, Ga. – The execution of condemned murderer Steven Frederick Spears scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson was carried out on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. in accordance with state law. Spears refused a final prayer and did not record a final statement. Spears was convicted in 2007 for the murder of Sherri Holland.

There have been 67 men and one woman executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Spears was the 45th inmate put to death by lethal injection. There are presently 59 men on death row in Georgia. 

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.