Commissioner: Timothy C. Ward

Director of Public Affairs: Joan Heath

Mark Smith Reassigned

FORSYTH, Ga. – The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) Interim Commissioner Timothy C. Ward announced the reassignment of Mark Smith to Deputy Warden of Security at Smith State Prison (SP), effective December 1, 2018. As Deputy Warden of Security, Smith will be responsible for overseeing approximately 325 staff members and 1600 close-security male offenders at the facility.

“Smith is an invaluable asset to the agency,” said Interim Commissioner Timothy C. Ward. “We are confident he will excel in his new role as Deputy Warden.”

Smith began his career with GDC in 2002 as a Correctional Officer at Rogers SP.  While at Rogers SP, he was a member of the Georgia SP Tactical Squad,  then transferred to Smith SP in 2007 as a Correctional Officer and served as a member of the Smith SP Tactical Squad and Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT).  In 2011, he was promoted to Sergeant at Georgia SP.  He was promoted to Lieutenant at Montgomery SP in 2013, and later that year, was promoted to the Office of Investigations and Compliance Internal Investigations Unit as an Institutional Investigator, assigned to Smith SP. He was promoted to Special Agent with the Office of Professional Standards/Criminal Investigations Division in 2015, and in 2018, was promoted to Deputy Warden of Security at Georgia SP, where he currently serves. 

Smith has completed the following departmental training: Basic Correctional Officer Training, Basic Management Training, Supervision I, II, & III, Management I, II, & III, Firearms Instructor Training, Basic Law Enforcement Academy, GBI Basic Agent Academy, Deputy Warden of Security Academy and the Professional Management Program.

About the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC)

The Georgia Department of Corrections (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. For more information on the GDC, call 478-992-5247 or visit https://gdc.georgia.gov.