After four inmate deaths in less than two months, Hays State Prison warden Clay Tatum is being replaced.
Commissioner Brian Owens has appointed Rick Jacobs, the Georgia Department of Corrections’ field operations manager, as the acting warden in Tatum’s place.
Jacobs, who has been warden over the Trion, Ga., prison before, said his first priority is keeping staff, inmates and the community safe.
The announcement comes a day after a Hays State inmate was killed by another Hays inmate. Both men had been transferred to the Diagnostic and Classifications Prison in Jackson, Ga., where that killing occurred.
The Times Free Press has been investigating Hays State, an institution described by sources as being on the ragged edge of control, with locks that don’t work and not enough guards to maintain adequate supervision of inmates.
For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Joy Lukachick is a crime reporter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Since 2009, she's covered breaking news, high-profile trials, stories of lost lives and of regained hope and done investigative work. Raised near the Bayou, Joy’s hometown is along the outskirts of Baton Rouge, La. She has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Louisiana State University. While at LSU, Joy was a staff writer for the Daily Reveille. When Joy isn't chasing down ...
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