D. RAY JAMES CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
CHARLTON COUNTY, GA
PRIVATE PRISON

ADDRESS:
HIGHWAY 252
FOLKSTON,GA 31537
(912)496-6242

The Georgia Department of Corrections has contracted with Cornell Corrections and Corrections Corporation of America to operate three private prisons located throughout the state. D. Ray James Prison located in Folkston, Georgia is operated by Cornell Corrections. Coffee Correctional Institute located in Nicholls, Georgia and Wheeler Correctional Institute located in Alamo, Georgia are operated by Corrections Corporation of America.


The Department has assigned a team of specialists to monitor the daily operation of each of the three private facilities and ensure that the terms of the contracts are being met. Employees at the facilities include security personnel (certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council), counselors, program specialists and support staff. Programming for inmate vocational, educational and substance abuse treatment closely follow the standards found in state-operated facilities.

I havent been able to find much info on D Ray James Prison in Folkston, GA. , so I called down there myself and got a lil info that Im goin to share here with ya'll. Its not much but its a start.

Normal visiting hours are Saturday and Sunday 9 am - 3pm. You are allowed to take in $10 or $20 in quarters to use in the vending machines. My honeys counselor said 20, security said 10.

This is a non smoking facility. If you must smoke you will be allowed to go out to the parking lot.. if you are being dropped off and wont have access to your car you will keep your smokes in a locker.

Dress code is fairly the norm for all facilities. Underwire bras normally dont set off the metal detector but if they do, they will use the hand held wand on you . No short skirts, no low cut blouses, no shorts, no skin showing when u bend over etc, no tank tops, no spaghetti straps , no see thru attire, no open toed shoes, no flip flops. Basically common sense.

Jewelry doesnt have to be removed , including body jewelry, like belly button rings , tongue rings... they advised not to wear in any expensive jewelry though. Once again common sense. You are allowed hair clips and barrettes etc but cannot wear the ones that are held in with a sharp pointed stick..

You are allowed a kiss and hug at the beginning and end of the visit and it "shouldnt" be a problem to hold hands above the table as long as you dont go overboard. I was under the impression this could be allowed on a case to case basis. Not positive of that though.

I dont know anything about talking to other visitors or inmates other than the one you are visiting, things like that. This is pretty much what I got. I hope it helps. Enjoy your visits! :thumbsup:

Just some added information... I have gone in wearing open toed shoes. And I did have one gaurd tell us that holding hands was not allowed. But at the next visit we held hands again and no one said anything. I have seen other inmates talk with other tables and each other, but I do not think it is allowed. But for the most part, the gaurds are pretty forgiving.

My son was moved to D Ray Correctional Facility today. How do I find out the phone service provider for this facility?
Thanks!

Ok, I am as obsessed with this web site as my daughter, who is in graduate school, is obsessed with My Space and Face Book. I found it late Thursday aftermoon and can't quit looking at it! After reading tons of threads, I haven't seen anyone else who has someone at D. Ray James Correctional Facility in Folston, GA. Is my son the only one there?.. hehe .. Just kidding. Come on James Corrections Facility people.. please share your experiences... visitation, inmate feedback, etc. with the new people. Thanks, everyone for all the threads, responses, advise, words of encouragement, etc.! It helps more than words can tell! Hope to hear from others soon!!!
Thanks,
Drew's family

Welcome Drew's Family to PTO!In order to find out the telephone provider for this facility, I would call the prison and ask to speak to his counselor. She can probably advise you on this.Since D. Ray James Correctional Facility is a private prison, it can differ from regular state prisons in some ways. I am sure the above visiting information is close to being correct even though it was written in 2005. I am sure having found this site you are finally experiencing the " I am not alone" feeling, and it is true here at PTO. Again, I welcome you, and your family, and hope for the best for your son!!!!! Hugs!

We had our first visit with Drew today. It was awesome! He laughed, smiled, and entertained us as he has done for 20 years. Drew is an amazing son!
I saw tons on people with open toe shoes, flip flops, etc. People were hugging and holding hands.
It was a very pleasent experience for us! I hope anyone else that visits this facility has the same positive experience we did.

Does anyone know how to get the prisoner's number to put in the address? I have the GDC ID # but there is another number that goes along with it. Do you know how I can get it? I lost touch with one of my loved ones. They shipped him to D Ray James Facility. I found out this through GA DOC. But I moved several times and he doesn't have my address to write me and I know he wants to. I called down there and the lady said she couldn't give me any information because she had to respect his privacy. He may not want me to write him. But I was thinking that there must be a way to put in a formal request without breaking the law.

Go to the GA Dept of Corrections website and do an inmate locator search on your friend. It will give you his current location and then you can go to the facility locator and get the mailing address. They use the GDC number now rather than the EF number on the mail. Dont worry about what the lady said about not wanting to write, we both know different. Mail is precious to an inmate. Good luck getting back in touch with your friend.

YES MAIL IS PRECIOUS TO INMATES. MY SON SAYS THAT IS WHAT KEEPS HIM GOING.

How do they decide who goes to a private prison as opposed to a regular one?

Hi there my ex bf is currently here in D Ray James facility, and i l0st t0uch with his family! I want t0 visit him but everytime i call there trying t0 get c0ntact inf0 0n my ex, they tell me they cant give 0ut anym0re inf0! This facility is 6 hrs away fr0m me.. and i d0nt want t0 g0 ALL the way d0wn there and they tell me i cant visit him! I want t0 mail him first. What d0 i use t0 mail my ex a letter? his GDC number and wat else???

PS-Als0 h0w d0 y0u get in c0ntact with his c0unsel0r?

thank y0u s0 much! if any0ne kn0ws al0t 0r little please state s0mething at least!:(

In order for you to be able to visit him, you have to get approval from the prison. He will have to send you a "significant other" form for you to fill out....they will do a background check on you.....you will then mail the form back to the facility and wait to be approved to visit. I would suggest that you start by contacting your loved one first and let him know that you would like to come visit....in order to write him, all you need is his name and GDC# which you said you have and the correct address to the facility.....I know this sounds crazy, but this is the way it is.....let us know if you need any further information.

Prisoner's Name and prison #
PO Box 2000
Folkston, Ga
31537

hope this helps!

hello, everyone my fiance was transferred to d ray james prison today, can anyone tell me anything about this prison. Is it safe there for the inmates. Do anyone know how the inmates are treated there.

There is very little violence at the private prisons in GA. I have talked to a few people who have had loved ones there and while it is not the best of the best neither is it the worst. The food tends to be a little worse than a state camp since they always have the eye on the bottom line. Just write your loved one a lot till the phone list is approved and tell him to choose his aquaintance carefully and stay away from the trouble makers, he should be fine.

Greetings everyone,
I found this page by mistake and thisseems tibe good mistake. i will be making my first visit tomorrow, and I'm driving from Atlanta to Folkston. I write my fiance 3-4 times aweek but i haven't had the chance to go and visit. Well I will be driving by myself nd what' the best route other than straight down the highway. I've read some of the posting about the prison, so hopefully everything goes well.

Hi Mz D,My brother is at D RAY JAMES and has been since may 07,how did you like your first visit? Im still kinda reserved on the subject,I feally wish he was somplace else,my brother is deaf and has gotten several DR"s because he didnt hear them call count.let me know what you thought.

:blah: Hey moma k the visit was ok but I don't like it and i want to find a way to have him transferred to another place. He applied to a state camp but he was denied. I don't know who to write to help him.

No one ever really answered the phone service question, which do they use at D.Ray... my son's father is at Floyd and the use Global but I have a friend at D ray and I know D.Ray is private who do they use??

Call D.Ray and ask them

d ray uses global tel link,i know my brother is there.

miz davis,i hate to visit my brother at d ray,that place stinks and is sooo loud and crowded,i would never tell my brother that cause then he wouldnt want me to come back,but i do know that to put in for a transfer,they have to be free of any DRS,for at least 6 months,and of course their security level if theur a minimum or low level,then they stand a better chance,my brother is deaf,and doc in atlanta even said he shouldnt have been sent to dray,but they still wont move him,HEY,THATS PRISON IN GA FOR YA.

By The Way,call Doc In Atlanta,ask Them When Can He Transfer,tell Them Its A Hardship.

I know a couple of people at this facility. One has been there a while, the other about 6 months. There was a lot of corruption going at this prison with the help of the guards of course. So the facility is attempting to get the prison under control. I hope to visit my love one shortly. I hope I enjoy it. I have a baby that I'm thinking about taking. Should I it would be his first time seeing his father.

My husband transferred to D Ray James two weeks ago. Does anyone know anything about the prison? I haven't heard a word from him since he transferred and I have no way to know if he's ok or not. Anyone have contact with a loved one there that might be able to find him on the inside?

ak,,yea,it would be ok to take the baby,,babys are everywhere there,,its safe,and jbanker,my brother is there and we have been trying in vain to get him out,because he is deaf,they arnt set up for that,,and they are very strict,you might also call global tel link and see if there is a block on your phone,,pm me and give me your hubbys name,,and i will be talking to my brother this week end,its a very large place,,its federal and state now,,send me your ?s and i will try to answer em,,,kim

JBanker,

welcome to the ga forum. You can call and ask them to verify he is there. You should mail your hubby some money cuz it takes a few weeks for their accounts to transfer to the new camp. If he doesn't have $$, he can't buy stationery to write....

My husband transferred to D Ray James two weeks ago. Does anyone know anything about the prison? I haven't heard a word from him since he transferred and I have no way to know if he's ok or not. Anyone have contact with a loved one there that might be able to find him on the inside?

Does anyone know anything about this prison?? My steven got moved there a couple days ago and I had just gotten familiar with Rogers and now he is here. Any info would help me greatly??

All I have heard about D Ray is it private Go here there is some info about this place http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58999,I hope this helps some..kat

Thanks Klyn...there is nothing anywhere hardly on this place that is all I found too. Thanks alot for the help! It is further away than before, that sucks.

Yes it does suck when they move then father away but as you know this is Ga and they do everything backwards to make it even harder on the family :(

Hi,

I posted some info in the Georgia Visitation forum. I can't attach the link because I don't have enough posts :)

Let me know if you have any specific questions. That info applies to the state prisoners....not sure how different the rules are for the federal guys.

:)

My son has been at D Ray since May last year and just got moved to Rogers today.
He was happy at D Ray, if you can be happy in prison. He had a "job" and got along pretty well with the guards. I guess prison is what you make it.
It's medium security and it's private so I don't know how it's affected by the state budget cuts. They have a new warden who apparently is tougher than the old one. They just had job reassignments and now my kid got shipped out totally. No open toed shoes for sure. Hope this helps. What's Rogers like?

Rogers isnt that bad same old same oh..Kiss and hug coming and going take quarters only you know how to dress..If you get there early they wont let you wait in the parking lot,when i got there early I went to the little store down the street across from GSP now that place is scary..when he was there I had to fill out a form b4 going on but he hasnt been there in over a year and a half good luck.And Welcome to PTO and the Ga forums..Kat

I have a loved one in the d.ray james facility and i am waiting for them to transfer him home to a local jail....he has been in there since the beginning of september....he was arrested by us marshalls in florida because he left vermont without permission with this girl who is nothing but trouble...I am trying to hang in there but it is the most difficult thing to do

I wish D Ray was strict... would make my job a lot easier. There is no order in there and the inmates just verbally assault you like crazy.

shadow welcome back to PTO and the Ga forums...if this is happening all I can say is someone isnt doing there jobs.

My stepson has been there for about 2 weeks. He says it's a jungle and the inmates run the place. This is a lot said for someone who spent 6 years in max at Philips and 1 month in work release (when sent back for alcohol on his breath) he is now at D. Ray James. We haven't visited - 5 hours away - but he up for parole again in march so we're continuing to pray.

klyn, its not that people aren't doing their jobs. It's just that basically inmates believe that because its not a state camp that they can do what they want including assaulting officers. Which the past few weeks hasnt been too bad thankfully.

Hey ya'll. Does anyone have any info on sending a magazine subscription and do you have to be on the person's visitation list to send one? Thanks!

The magazine subscription has to come direct from the publisher addressed to the inmate and obviously can't be a magazine with sexual or explicit content or it will be either held back in the inmates property to be sent home or returned to the publisher.

My boyfriend is at D. ray james and got sentence 2 months ago...how can you find out when are they going to move him... he have a 6 month sentence...

Hello. I'm new here and just happened onto this website. Didn't know one existed, but am so glad it does. My son was sent to D.Ray James way before Thanksgiving adn he just got his visitation approved. I am a little nervous cause I've never had to visit anyone in prison before. But with God's help I know it will be oj=kay.

My son, who just turned 19, has been locked up at D Ray since January 2007. He claims that D Ray is an okay facility and he hasn't voiced any complaints. I visit him once a month and visitations are pretty decent. Sometimes the visitation room is crowded but other times it's not.

Does anyone know if the new payment system affects D Ray.

Hey ya'll. Does anyone have any info on sending a magazine subscription and do you have to be on the person's visitation list to send one? Thanks!




My son had to get a package list approved first stating the books he wanted from a magazine he found at D Ray. He sent me the package list stating the books he wanted and I went to the publishers website and ordered the books and had them sent to me. I opened the package and checked my order and then repackaged the books with my sons address at D Ray. He received them with no problem. Instead of putting my address as a return, I had to print up a label with the publisers address.

Hi Jodynoelle-

My son is doing time at Coffee Correctional a private prison ran by Correctional Corp of America. I believe D. Ray and Wheeler are also managed by CCA.

At this time the private prisons are not adopting the new payment plan system, but that doesn't mean they won't change to this payment plan in the future, especially if there is a profit for them. Inmates are still getting 3 meals a day M-F at Coffee.

I'm glad to hear that your son is not having any problems at D. Ray, I had read past posts on the forum saying there was trouble there. I guess it just depends on the pod/dorm.
I like the rest of the parents on this forum are constantly praying for our sons/daughters safety.

do you still need info on d.ray? I used to work there and know about the place if you want to know anything else I'll be happy to help.

How do they decide who goes to a private prison as opposed to a regular one?
I would like to know the answer to that question also. My son was sent there after hte diagnostic center.

There is very little violence at the private prisons in GA. I have talked to a few people who have had loved ones there and while it is not the best of the best neither is it the worst. The food tends to be a little worse than a state camp since they always have the eye on the bottom line. Just write your loved one a lot till the phone list is approved and tell him to choose his aquaintance carefully and stay away from the trouble makers, he should be fine.
Thanks for the info. Does anyone know what the security level is at James?

Thanks for the info. Does anyone know what the security level is at James?

D Ray James is a minimum to medium security level camp. Unfortunately, due to the fact that it is a private prison, and Cornell Companies, the company that operates D. Ray James, is focused on the bottom line. Inmates make money and officers cost the company money. Maintaining the facility, providing working security equipment for staff, and maintaining a reasonable staff-inmate ratio is just not as profitable. Inmates are not safe, officers are certainly not safe. If you have a loved one there I sympathize with you. Too often inmates are rewarded for disturbances when corrective action should be taken. Instead, Inmates assault and stab eachother and assault officers almost daily. Gang theft-rings have been stabbing or threatening inmates, whom they then rob of their store goods. There used to be an enormous amount of inside corruption at D. Ray. I think most of that is cleaned up now, however, unfortunately the officers hands are tied as to responding to aggressive situations due to the companies desire to not be sued and the fact that the average floor officer is responsible for 200-300 inmates due to a lack of proper staffing. At a state-run camp there is no way the constant verbal and physical abuse would be tolerated against staff by inmates, but, i guess the state has deeper pockets and enough sense to know that they are operating a facility which houses criminals. Typically, the good officers they have are feeling the "burnout" of having to do the job of 3-5 people for 12 plus hours a shift while being told to "just get it done", and will probably all jump ship when it finally erupts. Even the well-behaved inmates are trying desperately to get out of there. It seems more time is spent on talking- down-to, investigating, and trying to "bait" officers than is spent on working together with the officers and assisting them by giving them working tools, equipment and the staff to do the jobs they thought they were hired to do:confused:. D. Ray James has it's employees set up for failure without serious policy changes, a transferring-out of the many problem inmates and restructuring of their disciplinary tactics. :idea:

I wish you all the best of luck!!

thank you stressedco,,my little brother was there for almost a year I picked up the phone and worked on getting him out of there,he is deaf and had no business being there to begin with,,we were told that from atlanta,,so why did it take a year to get him out of that place,,well the counselor blamed the doc and the doc blamed the counselor saying she hadnt turned in his paperwork,,well she didnt,,because she had soooooooo many inmates under her care,,she couldnt keep up with all of them,,and you know what I finally done what I do when I get tired of asking,,I called atlanta and told them I was going to the newspapers and tv stations,,

I had a deaf inmate transferred to my building once. I have to tell you, I was angry to find out that he was deaf and I was not notified. He missed several chow calls his first few days because I, and other officers, were unaware of his hearing impairment. Once I discovered it (his roommate approached me after he had been there 3 days and notified me), I made it a point to let my fellow officers know, and we made sure to go to his room directly to let him know when it was time to go to chow. I don't know alot of sign language but I learned all the alphabet and some hand signals when I was young so it made it simpler for me to communicate with him, I just wish we had been properly informed so we could have made proper adjustments for him sooner. I am glad you got your loved one out of there, it is not safe.

1StressedCo Welcome to PTO and the Ga forums...

I'm new to this site since my son has only been at D Ray James for a few weeks. I am in urgent need of advice. My son is now calling home almost daily begging us to wire (Western Union) money to people we don't know (averages $100 a day) to keep from being hurt by other inmates. He's there because of an accident in which his best friend died, so it's not like he's a big trouble-maker type. I can't afford this, but I don't know what to do.

One inmate I spoke to briefly last weekend while visiting said that he had himself moved to solitary due to the threats of violence constantly.

Does anyone have any advice? My son's attorneys have suggested that we contact the GBI.

STressedco,,,what do you recommend for this mom,,I would say she should advise her son to go to pc,,till he can get out of there,,oh and by the way that may have been my brother,,because he missed so many meals and head counts,,after a couple of dismissed dr"s,,the co"s finally saw he really was deaf,,but for the most part,,the cos were nice to him,,his councler,,a whole differant story,,,

My brother got to D Ray on Tuesday called to day and said its REAL BAD he said when they got there the guards said welcome to HE##, he said no control at all he hates it he wants to get moved but I dont know how to go about doing that??? do we use the vouchers to send money to d ray? if not what is the mailing address? need some help. Thanks

My son put in for a transfer the other week. He is currently still there but wants to transfer out. When he got there about 16 months ago, things were okay but he says it's gotten really bad and the guards can't control the inmates. He just turned 19 in January and has already seen a man stabbed and left for dead, an inmate who set himself on fire and inmates beat up the warden. It's pitiful. The private company reduced the diets of the inmates and I believe they cut out lunch/supper on weekends, so money is very important for your loved one to help buy edible items out of the commissary. My son says all he gets is carbs. (breads, pasta, etc.) All money orders go directly to the prison at D Ray James Prison, P. O Box 2000, Folkston Georgia 31537. Remember to put your loved ones name and then his GDC number plus his location. My son is in L Building. In August, D Ray James will be implementing the new pay system but will use a different company from what the State uses.

My son put in for a transfer the other week. He is currently still there but wants to transfer out. When he got there about 16 months ago, things were okay but he says it's gotten really bad and the guards can't control the inmates. He just turned 19 in January and has already seen a man stabbed and left for dead, an inmate who set himself on fire and inmates beat up the warden. It's pitiful. The private company reduced the diets of the inmates and I believe they cut out lunch/supper on weekends, so money is very important for your loved one to help buy edible items out of the commissary. My son says all he gets is carbs. (breads, pasta, etc.) All money orders go directly to the prison at D Ray James Prison, P. O Box 2000, Folkston Georgia 31537. Remember to put your loved ones name and then his GDC number plus his location. My son is in L Building. In August, D Ray James will be implementing the new pay system but will use a different company from what the State uses.My brother got to D Ray on Tuesday called to day and said its REAL BAD he said when they got there the guards said welcome to HE##, he said no control at all he hates it he wants to get moved but I dont know how to go about doing that??? do we use the vouchers to send money to d ray? if not what is the mailing address? need some help. Thanks

I'm new to this site since my son has only been at D Ray James for a few weeks. I am in urgent need of advice. My son is now calling home almost daily begging us to wire (Western Union) money to people we don't know (averages $100 a day) to keep from being hurt by other inmates. He's there because of an accident in which his best friend died, so it's not like he's a big trouble-maker type. I can't afford this, but I don't know what to do.

One inmate I spoke to briefly last weekend while visiting said that he had himself moved to solitary due to the threats of violence constantly.

Does anyone have any advice? My son's attorneys have suggested that we contact the GBI.



My son called me back in April asking for $25.00 to be wired to someone outside of the prison. It was for a debt he had to pay or otherwise be "beat down" the following day. What is a mother to do? My son has a problem with borrowing items from other inmates, (food, etc.) and then expects me to fork out extra money for him to cover his debts. My son is 19 and has been locked up since he was 17. He has already learned the in's and out's of the con games and I worry about him dearly. All I ask of him is to stay DR free so he can transfer out easily ASAP.

jodynoelle, thanks for the info. I can not beleave how aweful this place is. I hate that my brother is having to deal with this. I know he did the crime but this place is not where he needs to do his time. What can I send him? At Jackson I could make copies of puzzles, games news papers, etc,,, and send him. can they have pics.? I hope your son gets his transfer soon.

OK folks,,I know,,I know,,IM a trouble maker,,or so I have been told,,here are some #s to call Cornell corrections,,they are based in Texas,,713-623-0790---also 1-888-624-0816,,Im calling in the am,,so lets see what happens,,

that is so true about it being hell in there my man says its really bad there tell your brother to be carefull going near G and L dorm which is gonna be very hard to do bc from what my man said its hard to do that bc both dorms are near the store they have recently moved him to L dorm and i worry so much about him especially since he tells me about the things going on in there and like u , i know he did the crime but it still shouldnt mean they have to be treated like they are. my man has been in quite a fw prisons being he's been locked up for a while and he said this one is the worst one he says it is so bad there people rob you coming back from the store and the officers dont do anything about ti its like they are scared of the inmates they need to get things together there i want to get him moved but im scared if they transfer him it will be to far of a drive for me to go see him and right now hes only 2 hours away . i know that is selfish of me though..

Officers are not afraid of inmates, they are afraid of retaliation by corporate office and internal investigations. Our hands are tied by the company. We are not permitted to touch the inmates without prior approval from a supervisor. Now, how would you feel if you were threatened by an inmate only to be told that there is just no room in segregation so just write a disciplinary report on the inmate? This is a daily occurrence at D. Ray. Officers are not backed up by administration when they try to discipline inmates. Often administration responds to threats against officers by moving the officer to another post rather than disciplining the inmate causing the problem. Naturally, this gives inmates the feeling of superiority over officers and they know if they push hard enough administration will give them whatever they want to appease them just to keep the peace. This is not the way to run a prison and it is a horrible working environment for officers! We feel helpless to do anything about it. Administration does not want to hear our complaints, they just want everything to run smoothly. We cannot protect the inmates, we are not even permitted to protect ourselves without lengthy interrogations and accusations from administration. Just ask the officer who was violently attacked Thursday night by four inmates with combination locks in a sock. They beat him in his face and head terribly and he was rushed to the hospital. There was so much blood, it was horrible! Assaults on staff are a daily occurrence! Naturally, internal investigations showed up to make sure that the 4 inmates were unharmed by staff. Yes, the inmates were immediatley transferred out of there at that point, however, a few of the inmates had a long history of disciplinary problems that have gone unchecked that led up to them feeling like this behavior would be tolerated. The bastards were transferred UNHARMED and laughing about what they had done and about the administration while our officer was in the hospital. Cornell does not back it's officers, they use them up and ridicule and discard them when they try to bring about changes.:angry:

that is so true about it being hell in there my man says its really bad there tell your brother to be carefull going near G and L dorm which is gonna be very hard to do bc from what my man said its hard to do that bc both dorms are near the store they have recently moved him to L dorm and i worry so much about him especially since he tells me about the things going on in there and like u , i know he did the crime but it still shouldnt mean they have to be treated like they are. my man has been in quite a fw prisons being he's been locked up for a while and he said this one is the worst one he says it is so bad there people rob you coming back from the store and the officers dont do anything about ti its like they are scared of the inmates they need to get things together there i want to get him moved but im scared if they transfer him it will be to far of a drive for me to go see him and right now hes only 2 hours away . i know that is selfish of me though..

My brother told me about the CO. he said it was horrible!!!! that he can not beleave what goes on that its aweful, I will pray for the CO. to recover and for you to be safe at work, and that my brother will leave that place very soon.

officers are not afraid of inmates, they are afraid of retaliation by corporate office and internal investigations. Our hands are tied by the company. We are not permitted to touch the inmates without prior approval from a supervisor. Now, how would you feel if you were threatened by an inmate only to be told that there is just no room in segregation so just write a disciplinary report on the inmate? This is a daily occurrence at d. Ray. Officers are not backed up by administration when they try to discipline inmates. Often administration responds to threats against officers by moving the officer to another post rather than disciplining the inmate causing the problem. Naturally, this gives inmates the feeling of superiority over officers and they know if they push hard enough administration will give them whatever they want to appease them just to keep the peace. This is not the way to run a prison and it is a horrible working environment for officers! We feel helpless to do anything about it. Administration does not want to hear our complaints, they just want everything to run smoothly. We cannot protect the inmates, we are not even permitted to protect ourselves without lengthy interrogations and accusations from administration. Just ask the officer who was violently attacked thursday night by four inmates with combination locks in a sock. They beat him in his face and head terribly and he was rushed to the hospital. There was so much blood, it was horrible! Assaults on staff are a daily occurrence! Naturally, internal investigations showed up to make sure that the 4 inmates were unharmed by staff. Yes, the inmates were immediatley transferred out of there at that point, however, a few of the inmates had a long history of disciplinary problems that have gone unchecked that led up to them feeling like this behavior would be tolerated. The bastards were transferred unharmed and laughing about what they had done and about the administration while our officer was in the hospital. Cornell does not back it's officers, they use them up and ridicule and discard them when they try to bring about changes.:angry:
that is awfull that that is going on in there that it would be allowed to go on in there,my prayers are with the officer and his famiily and with you as you and others have to go in that every day, cornell should back its staff that is just wrong

STRESSEDCO,,,What can WE DO as family on the outside,,what do you suggest we do on our part to help with the co"s problems of not having control and to help insure the safety of our family members that are there that depend on you guys to maintain saftey and control of these bad situations,,tell us or better yet,,private message me and I will do my part to pass along the word,,I do know it took almost an act of congrass to get baby bro moved,,so what do you think it will take to get the commish and others to sit up and take notice before a prison riot takes place and so many will be hurt or worse?

I still believe the best is when an officer gets assaulted by an inmate and when they call for assistance the supervisor says theres nothing he can do because they are busy monitoring the flattop and not one officer shows up due to the company scraping up every penny by not allowing any over time to have a sufficient amount of officers on the shift. Then following that as 1StressedCO said... they refuse to lock up that inmate because of not having room in the segregation unit. Or is it because they refuse to do the paperwork on it which has also happened.

I am not sure what anyone can do, but I am certain that contacting the corporate office in Houston is useless. Unless they are ignorant, they are well aware of the problems and continue to cut the budget. :idea: Contact GBI or the Georgia Department of Corrections in Atlanta and pray they listen, it may be our only hope. If enough people call they may take notice. Too often when Corporate comes to the prison or when state auditors come to the prison, they are shadowed very closely by supervisors and never speak to the officers one on one to find out what is really going on there. We know when they are coming but we also know it is frowned on for us to speak to them in detail and if we do, we may be subject to questioning and retaliation .

STRESSEDCO,,,What can WE DO as family on the outside,,what do you suggest we do on our part to help with the co"s problems of not having control and to help insure the safety of our family members that are there that depend on you guys to maintain saftey and control of these bad situations,,tell us or better yet,,private message me and I will do my part to pass along the word,,I do know it took almost an act of congrass to get baby bro moved,,so what do you think it will take to get the commish and others to sit up and take notice before a prison riot takes place and so many will be hurt or worse?

OK,,,Im thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!which could be trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Im going to sit down this week and get together with some buddies and see what we come up with,,there IS a solution to this or at least an attempt,,you know I have always been one to give it my best shot,,and If I fail,,I can say I tried.,,,,,

do the dorms at d ray james have air??? my brother said it was hot as heck in there.

The two-man housing units have only a small vent in the cell ceiling. Their day rooms have 2 or more floor fans and a ventilation system. The open dormitories have 4 wall mounted corner fans and a ventilation system in each dormitory. Policy states that all housing units must either have their floor fans on or their ventilation system running at all times. At NO time are the floor fans and the ventilation fans to be off at the same time! This is to aid in the reduction of the spread of possible airborne diseases, should the need ever arise. The fans don't help in the South Georgia heat and humidity! I can tell you-it is hot! I am sure the inmates are suffocating, however, the officers do try to compensate by not enforcing the dress code in the buildings. The dress code states that inmates must be fully and properly dressed anytime they leave their housing unit, and, while they are supposed to wear at least a t-shirt and shorts when they are not in the shower, it has been incredibly hot lately, and inmates have been permitted to wear only shorts in their dorms. Inmates are permitted to have a fan, and may purchase one from the commissary if they don't have one. The conditions are awful and to be quite honest, worse on the staff. We obviously must remain fully dressed at all times and frequently stand outside in the blistering sun and heat to manage inmate traffic on the flat-top for hours at a time, while being so short-staffed that we often have one officer monitoring two or more buildings by him/herself. If you get to eat or get a cold drink or even get to the bathroom some nights then you are lucky! Anyway...NO, there is no AC in any of the housing units, with the exception of the control rooms of those buildings, however, those systems are often inoperable or faulty enough to be ineffective at maintaining a comfortable temperature for the sparse staff that is moving steadily for 12+ hours per shift to keep things running. Several security staff have been carried out by medical staff for succumbing to the heat on more than one occasion:faint:. If I could wave a wand and all of a sudden had the knowledge to fix things, I'd do it myself. Unfortunately, We are not the adiministration or maintenance so our hands are tied....we can only complain. I hope this was helpful.
do the dorms at d ray james have air??? my brother said it was hot as heck in there.

StressedCO: I am also a stressed and supremely disgruntled CO. I wish we CO's had a forum we could go to so we could discuss our jobs; I know this forum isn't really for us, but since we're on the subject, just so you don't feel alone...

GDC does NOT care about us. All they care about is money. I work at a female camp, so it isn't quite as bad, and I really feel for those at male camps. At least we have air, when it works, but our staff has been cut so much that we barely get by. Most of our dorms were designed to house 96 inmates and be run by either 2 or 3 officers, but they triple-bunked some of the dorms and cut the officers down to 1 per dorm; that's one staff to 96-120 inmates.

This is extremely dangerous to staff. If you fall out sick or get attacked, no one may find out for a couple of hours or so. It is also hard to run a dorm that was designed to be run by 3 people. There are blind spots everywhere. It isn't humanly possible to keep an eye on everything, so naturally some of the inmates take advantage of that. They are getting downright mean, unruly, and defiant because they have become so accustomed to getting away with everything.

Yet, the powers that be still expect us to do the job of 2 or 3 people, but we don't get paid any more for it. Which is why I'm starting college soon. If I don't get out of there soon, my brain is going to explode.

It is comforting to know that I am not alone, although that is not a good thing under these circumstances. What are these people thinking? I just dont get it. I feel like they dont care or just dont understand the dangers we face daily. They continue to cut back and we are short-staffed as well. Our average ratio is 213:1. We delay our lockdowns so inmates will be appeased and get to watch ball games, playoffs, etc.., Most of the inmates are using this to benefit financially, as they are gambling on these games and the administration allows it to keep them calm. They are in prison for God's sake!!! It's not my fault they broke the laws. While I agree all inmates should be afforded basic necessities (heat, air, water, food, clothing, toiletries, counseling, medical, and dental), that is where it ends with me. Everything beyond that is a privilege which I feel should be earned and not demanded by any criminal. We need to take back the prison through reward and discipline. When they act like civilized adults, then they get the extra privileges (phone, newspaper, TV, movies, participating in sports, and an opportunity to participate in education or vocation classes). At our camp, it seems like the worse they behave, the more the officers are forced to give in to them to keep them quiet. My badge has gone from a badge of honor to something I am almost ashamed of. I represent law enforcement and am forced to let criminals walk all over me so the administration does not have to deal with the ugly truth that they are weak, they have failed their officers horribly, and have set us up for failure! We take all possible measures to protect ourselves. For example, If I see an inmate with a cell-phone, It works best if I keep right on with what I was doing like I did not see anything and call for backup once I leave the dorm. Then we can go in as a team. If I attempted to get it by myself, I could have 100 inmates on me in seconds so I avoid reacting spontaneously. We also inform our control officers where we are in the buildings at all times so the very scenario you stated does not happen. I am still able to be assaulted, however, it is unlikely that the control officer would not know something is wrong and back-up will be on the way for me. Of course, if we were staffed properly, the chances of me being assaulted to begin with would be greatly reduced because it is unlikely then that I would ever go into a building without backup, but I have discovered that my safety is obviously not my company's concern.

StressedCO: I am also a stressed and supremely disgruntled CO. I wish we CO's had a forum we could go to so we could discuss our jobs; I know this forum isn't really for us, but since we're on the subject, just so you don't feel alone...

GDC does NOT care about us. All they care about is money. I work at a female camp, so it isn't quite as bad, and I really feel for those at male camps. At least we have air, when it works, but our staff has been cut so much that we barely get by. Most of our dorms were designed to house 96 inmates and be run by either 2 or 3 officers, but they triple-bunked some of the dorms and cut the officers down to 1 per dorm; that's one staff to 96-120 inmates.

This is extremely dangerous to staff. If you fall out sick or get attacked, no one may find out for a couple of hours or so. It is also hard to run a dorm that was designed to be run by 3 people. There are blind spots everywhere. It isn't humanly possible to keep an eye on everything, so naturally some of the inmates take advantage of that. They are getting downright mean, unruly, and defiant because they have become so accustomed to getting away with everything.

Yet, the powers that be still expect us to do the job of 2 or 3 people, but we don't get paid any more for it. Which is why I'm starting college soon. If I don't get out of there soon, my brain is going to explode.

I had heard that at some male camps the ratio of officer to inmate was ridiculous, but 213:1?? That is ......:angry: I can't even think of a word. It's getting to the point where, I hate to say it, but somebody is going to get killed. Then they may or may not do something.

This is really a terrible outrage. You know the word is out through the system of how bad James is.it has gained quite a reputation. You would think Corporate would get their act together and do what they need to keep the CO's safe and other inmates. I really feel bad for all the CO's and those inmates that are behaving, this is a major concern, for their well being and yours.
I wish there was something we could do to help.

My finance got transferred there about 2 months ago. could you tell me what the other dorms are like? I am VERY scared for his saftey. Also, his TPM was 5/09 (last month), but nobody ever got back to me or him to let us know when he will be getting out. His max date is a few months away, and I'm planning on coming down to get him. What time should I be there? Any info you have would be GREATLY appericated.

Welcome to PTO - Georgia forums, soontobewifey!
I do not know anything about this particular facility, hopefully someone will come along shortly to answer any specific questions. The counselor would be able to let him know his release date. Our loved ones are usually released in the morning, around 8:30AM.

Thank Lorna. I hope somebody can give me some info. Ive tried gettin ahold of his counsler, but i never get an answer or response. So I don't know what to do about making plans to go and get him on his max out date.

Hi, as a officer , I know for a fact that we don't always release inmates on their tpm dates--if he has any DR's pending or any other pending charges from another county we will release him to them first. And honestly, half the time the inmates don't even know they have pending charges--I have walked many inmates to the gate in street clothes for release and there sits another county car for their pick up of the inmate. I personally walked an inmate out after he served 12 years and there sat a police car waiting for him, he dropped to his knees and looked at me and said--(and I will never forget this) Sgt. Please tell me they aren't here for me--please. Made me feel bad cause he was an ideal inmate for me too.
As per counsel- they are hard to even get in the buildings with the guys let alone take outside calls. We staff complain about their lack of interest in doing their jobs.The inmates can tell you- we argue with counsel more then they do trying to get them in the buildings.And also- PLEASE everyone that reads this-DO NOT go by what the computer says as their tpm or max date-- if they have received any discipline reports we can prolong their sentence inside prison d.r. court. Also if we have charged them with 3---B11 charges--which is masturbation they get charged with an outside charge as a sexual offender and they do get more time for this also.Also , if they are under a pending investigation for something that happened in prison this can delay their release date also. I am sorry if this is bad news but I am being honest. Hope this helped you.

I greatly appericate your honesty, yes it upset me, but at lest thats the truth. So, how would I go about getting the info I need? (Every time I call, I'm being told they cant tell me that info.) Such as the exact date and time he is going to be released. I live 6 hours away from him, so I have to make hotel res. What is your best advice?

I had heard that at some male camps the ratio of officer to inmate was ridiculous, but 213:1?? That is ......:angry: I can't even think of a word. It's getting to the point where, I hate to say it, but somebody is going to get killed. Then they may or may not do something.
Unfortunately, the staff feels the same way and we have been saying for years that it may take an officer or an inmate getting killed to bring about any effective changes. We are told to just get the job done regardless of how short-staffed we are. We had another close call last summer when 5 officers were involved in a use of force and several were stabbed by two angry inmates. One of the officers was taken by helicopter to Jacksonville for his injuries. He wore a halo on his head for a while. The impact of being stabbed in the head actually broke several of his cervical vertebrae and he could have been paralyzed! The lack of discipline at this camp leads to similar events occuring daily. Female officers are constantly degraded both verbally and physically by inmates only to be told "there is no room in segregation, just write him a Disciplinary Report". We had a female officer that went home for hemmorhaging after a pod of about 65 inmates attempted to push their way through her at their pod door to get out of their pod because they insisted on going to chow earlier than they were supposed to. It is a mess, I have never seen anything like it. They are shorthanded but they still continue on with inmate movement for education, vocation classes and the like as if they are fully staffed to accomodate such movement. In my opinion, they need to cancel all classes and limit inmate movement until they are properly staffed and have a CERT team, which they do not have. The state of Georgia sends us the inmates they don't want to deal with so we get alot of young thugs and gang members that feel they have something to prove and have never been to a state camp where this type of behavior is not tolerated. Like I have said before, the company itself is responsible for this problem by refusing to allow discipline for fear of being sued. Hell, the inmates even filed a complaint to force the company to remove the tint from the control booths, claining that it was a security risk because they felt the officers could not see them. The real problem was that the inmates could not see the officers in the control booth, which were often female. The inmates won, the tint was removed, and now inmates line up to masturbate on the control officers all day and night.:angry:

I was all happy to finally be going to school and leaving GDC in 2 years, but I don't know if I can make it another 2 years. I've been telling my supervisors that I'm having some bad anxiety issues, but they don't listen or care. I guess I'm going to have to go to my doctor and see if he can prescribe something. I'm a little scared to go to him and tell him work is stressing me out, because he'll probably say "join the club" or something.

You ever feel like you're the only one who sees what's going on, or cares? I know it's not 'cool' to say you're scared at work, but darn it, times have changed! We've got more inmates crowded in the dorms, more inmates who have no regard for authority or rules, and less staff, and frankly, I am a bit scared now, especially when I have to discipline someone. You have to wonder, being the only officer in the dorm, is he/she going to retaliate, and if so, how long will it take anybody to find me? Call me crazy, but I want to go home every day!

Your reactions are perfectly normal. Fear can help keep you alive in prison because it will keep you on your toes. Frankly, I would worry more about the officer who has no fear. Learn to use your fear to your advantage. I went to my doctor with anxiety issues due to stress at work years ago and was put on medication. The medication does not relieve the stress at my job, but it does change how I react to it physically. It has helped me tremendously and I no longer have the stress related chest pains I was having prior to seeing my doctor. Supervisors tend to ignore these issues when you try to discuss it with them. Don't worry about it, just remember that only a doctor can help you, your supervisors will not be able to offer counseling or medication if you need it, so I would avoid bringing it to their attention and if your doctor is unprofessional enough to say something like "join the club" instead of working with you to resolve your problems, then I would find a different doctor I was all happy to finally be going to school and leaving GDC in 2 years, but I don't know if I can make it another 2 years. I've been telling my supervisors that I'm having some bad anxiety issues, but they don't listen or care. I guess I'm going to have to go to my doctor and see if he can prescribe something. I'm a little scared to go to him and tell him work is stressing me out, because he'll probably say "join the club" or something.

You ever feel like you're the only one who sees what's going on, or cares? I know it's not 'cool' to say you're scared at work, but darn it, times have changed! We've got more inmates crowded in the dorms, more inmates who have no regard for authority or rules, and less staff, and frankly, I am a bit scared now, especially when I have to discipline someone. You have to wonder, being the only officer in the dorm, is he/she going to retaliate, and if so, how long will it take anybody to find me? Call me crazy, but I want to go home every day!

Is there a way to call or somethin and put money on an inmates books from a credit card?

To put money on an inmates account, you should buy a postal money order made out to your fiance. Be sure to include his GDC# and mail it to him with his full name, GDC #, and dorm assignment printed on the envelope to P.O. BOx 2000 Folkston, GA 31537. I don't know of any other way to do it.

hey stressed out. It isnt that bad at Dray. Ive been there. About 3 years ago and i was in one of the worst buildings there K

long,,I really think it is that bad at dray,,my brother was just there and everything these co"s says about the inmates is correct,,and I also feel like for some inmates its worse than others,,my brother is deaf,,so the inmates tended to look past him when they were looking for trouble,,,

my brother just got sent to d ray 3 weeks ago,from jackson he is in dorm k he said that it is pure h### that the inmates are in control. why he was sent there is not because he is young (hes not) and its not hes a "thug" its because it was the first place with a empty bed. Iv spoke with others that have loved ones there and they say the samething that its real bad.I pray every night for co's and my brothers safty. GOD BLESS

Perhaps it was not that bad three years ago, but it has gone very far downhill and is extremely volatile and dangerous now so YES, it is THAT BAD!!hey stressed out. It isnt that bad at Dray. Ive been there. About 3 years ago and i was in one of the worst buildings there K

Advise your son to take PC. If possible, contact Warden Jackson at (912) 496-6242 and give him the names of the inmates threatening your son and /or the names of the people you have been asked to send money too. The inmates will be swiftly and quietly transferred out of the facility. The biggest problem is nobody comes forward with this information, so our hands are frequently tied. Warden Jackson does try his best to clean up the facility but it is going to take more people speaking up

I'm new to this site since my son has only been at D Ray James for a few weeks. I am in urgent need of advice. My son is now calling home almost daily begging us to wire (Western Union) money to people we don't know (averages $100 a day) to keep from being hurt by other inmates. He's there because of an accident in which his best friend died, so it's not like he's a big trouble-maker type. I can't afford this, but I don't know what to do.

One inmate I spoke to briefly last weekend while visiting said that he had himself moved to solitary due to the threats of violence constantly.

Does anyone have any advice? My son's attorneys have suggested that we contact the GBI.

what building are you working now? I have been in a few since and the problems seem to be everywhere. Prisons are prisons. We (cons) are going to try to make a buck and you guys are suppose to prevent it. The basics are the same everywhere right?

Advise your son to take PC. If possible, contact Warden Jackson at (912) 496-6242 and give him the names of the inmates threatening your son and /or the names of the people you have been asked to send money too. The inmates will be swiftly and quietly transferred out of the facility. The biggest problem is nobody comes forward with this information, so our hands are frequently tied. Warden Jackson does try his best to clean up the facility but it is going to take more people speaking up

There use to be investigator there. Ms. Crews. you can call her. The private prisons have an advantage for they have their own investigators and dont rely on the state too much.

If you don't provide names or gdc numbers- we won't put you in p.c--this is a know fact!! You won't give us info- they won't give you protection. If we put every inmate in pc when they claimed they were being threatened , we would have everyone who gambles in there cause they can't or won't pay their debts.
But yet, the saying goes----" Snitchs get stiches"---this is the real outlook of inmates and they live by it!!

I am sure the building I work in is inconsequential. As far as the cons trying to make a buck, the majority of our inmates just want to do their time and stay out of trouble but you will always have the idiots trying to hustle them up some fast cash at the expense of others. As for the friends request, you are admittedly an ex-con and it would be a conflict for me to have a friendship with a known convictwhat building are you working now? I have been in a few since and the problems seem to be everywhere. Prisons are prisons. We (cons) are going to try to make a buck and you guys are suppose to prevent it. The basics are the same everywhere right?

Anybody know if I can call the prison and they will give a message to an inmate to call home? I really need to talk to my finance ( i got ahold of his lawyer like he wanted me to), but he's not gonna call for another week. AAAARRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!

hey stressed out. It isnt that bad at Dray. Ive been there. About 3 years ago and i was in one of the worst buildings there K


Just a thought, Maybe the reason you did not think d ray was bad is because you were part of the problem.

Just a thought, Maybe the reason you did not think d ray was bad is because you were part of the problem.
I was the inmate that wanted to do better for myself. I obtained an education and am currently using it. I assisted c/os when they needed it. So no i was not part of a problem When i was there the staff werent there just to make money. they cared about their job each other and even us.

I am sure the building I work in is inconsequential. As far as the cons trying to make a buck, the majority of our inmates just want to do their time and stay out of trouble but you will always have the idiots trying to hustle them up some fast cash at the expense of others. As for the friends request, you are admittedly an ex-con and it would be a conflict for me to have a friendship with a known convict

Isn't there a time limit in which you can? I mean you come to a site for inmates and our families to talk too and that is allowed?
Stress i have read some of your stuff and you say you work at a prison but are scared because your corporate people wont do anything. My question is why are you still there if its so bad there. Or are you trying to get close to some of these people just to use it against their family at your institution?
People pour their hearts out in sites like this. My family has done it to. I still do it. I just hope you are not using it for your personal gains.
You have given some very useful information but some of it is misleading.

I have given no misleading information and I dont want to know peoples personal identifying information. Asking for it, and getting involved in that manner, would be considered inmate dealings and that is not why I am here. The fact that you wanted to know which building I worked in was bothersome to me and I apologize if my reaction upset you. You should not take it so personally and you should have known better than to ask. Make no mistake, I am an officer. I happened upon this site while searching the internet out of frustration for what we have to go through everyday. If you can't understand that, then you have issues of your own, please don't take it out on me. Isn't there a time limit in which you can? I mean you come to a site for inmates and our families to talk too and that is allowed?
Stress i have read some of your stuff and you say you work at a prison but are scared because your corporate people wont do anything. My question is why are you still there if its so bad there. Or are you trying to get close to some of these people just to use it against their family at your institution?
People pour their hearts out in sites like this. My family has done it to. I still do it. I just hope you are not using it for your personal gains.
You have given some very useful information but some of it is misleading.

I was the inmate that wanted to do better for myself. I obtained an education and am currently using it. I assisted c/os when they needed it. So no i was not part of a problem When i was there the staff werent there just to make money. they cared about their job each other and even us.


I am very glad that you were able to get training that you can use. But D Ray has changed and I do not think that you can get alot of training if your dorm is on lock down alot. plus if you leave your bunk your stuff will be gone when you return. Its a MESS something needs to be done.. Stressed Was there a BAD stabbing there yesterday (Tuesday)? I know they have them every day but this one was BAAD.

i think stressed has put very useful info on here for us and i thank him for what he tells us ...... and please stressed if you have any info in what jsister was saying please let us know my guy was supposed to called tuesday and i havent heard from him i was worried a little but now im worried alot

Anybody know if I can call the prison and they will give a message to an inmate to call home? I really need to talk to my finance ( i got ahold of his lawyer like he wanted me to), but he's not gonna call for another week. AAAARRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!

If you know who his counselor is, call during business hours and ask to speak to her/him. They are the only ones who can pass messages.

Isn't there a time limit in which you can? I mean you come to a site for inmates and our families to talk too and that is allowed?
Stress i have read some of your stuff and you say you work at a prison but are scared because your corporate people wont do anything. My question is why are you still there if its so bad there. Or are you trying to get close to some of these people just to use it against their family at your institution?
People pour their hearts out in sites like this. My family has done it to. I still do it. I just hope you are not using it for your personal gains.
You have given some very useful information but some of it is misleading.

I don't see why officers wouldn't be allowed to come here to offer information and insight, as long as we all follow the golden rule.

Why does anybody work anywhere? They have bills to pay! Trust me, many of us are trying like heck to get out, but school takes time. And, contrary to what you said, things ARE bad now, and getting worse.

Sure. StressedCO has absolutely NO LIFE WHATSOEVER, and spends all his spare time trying to find personal info about inmates so he can go to work and torture them. That's what we all do, right? :rolleyes:

Not misleading; just his personal viewpoint. And remember, you've been away from DRay for 3 years. Things change at GDC in the blink of an eye.

No, I don't know who is counsler is, and now that I saw there was a bad stabbing, I'm worried about him just like everyone else is worried about their loved ones. He called last night, but I wasn't home, and he hasn't called back.

No, I don't know who is counsler is, and now that I saw there was a bad stabbing, I'm worried about him just like everyone else is worried about their loved ones. He called last night, but I wasn't home, and he hasn't called back.

Well, I suppose you could speak to either the chief counselor or the Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment...one of them should be able to tell you something. I'm sure, though, it's a good sign that he called last night. At least you know he's ok.

I know in my heart he's ok, but my mind likes to wonder. :confused: I would feel SOOO much better if I heard his voice and he told me he was ok.

I know in my heart he's ok, but my mind likes to wonder. :confused: I would feel SOOO much better if I heard his voice and he told me he was ok.

That's understandable. :) According to your ticker, you don't have much longer to worry, huh? :thumbsup:

Amen to that statement!!! GDC changes daily!!! And it doesn't matter which side of the gate you are on--rules change and the situations change daily!!!

Hey,,I can see where longetsyard is cautious about talking to co"s,,but we all are,,because at some point we have ALL been treated badly by the co"s,so we all learn to stop trusting at some level,,and true this is a site for support for families of inmates,,but if we all try to sit down and think about it,,we can benefit from the advice from each other,,basically the family members have a low opinion of co because the way they are treated,,and its hard for the co"s to see our inmates as real people because they are fed up with the way the system is run,,etc;but at the same time,,I flat out dont like the way things are at Dray because when you have that amount of inmates ruling ,,,,you have trouble,,and when my brother was there I expected him to be protected,,and kept safe,,till he could come home,,,and that didnt for alot of the inmates there,,but I myself feel like we should all be able to post on here and come away with if nothing else but the feeling that we were able to get some crap off our chest before we go to bed,,we have got to help each other folks,,,,

Yes, we had another stabbing on Tuesday. To the best of my knowledge, it was not a bad one, not that any stabbing is a good one. It was an inmate in J Bldg., and the inmate is going to be ok. I heard it was over drugs and cellphones. That is all I know and I hope it helps. From what i heard, nobody saw it happen. The inmate who got stabbed came up to the control booth window after the fact and told the officer he had to go to medical. It is doubtful that he will write a statement that will allow us to charge anybody with the crime, and thus, the problem continues....but, who knows, maybe he will. If more inmates would stand up for themselves, it would allow us to identify and weed out the serious trouble makers. Also, there was another shakedown Tuesday and, as usual, we confiscated drugs and cellphones. If any of you have knowledge of an inmate calling you from a cellphone please note that they are putting you at risk also. Cellphones are considered an escape device because we cant monitor the conversations. It is now a felony to be caught with a cellphone in prison and yet, we still have visitors that will risk their own freedom to smuggle in contraband which could add another charge and a minimum of five years to their loved ones time. It is not worth it. I can only imagine how depressing it must be to not hear your loved ones voice on a regular basis, and I know the phone systems at the prison are outrageously expensive, but it is the only system we have right now. That is what makes the temptation of a cellphone so appealing. I truly sympathize, but it is the law, because you never know when the inmate that is in there for life, who has nothing to lose, may use a cell to plan an escape that could injure or even kill someone. As for Longest Yard wanting to know what building I work in, you have to realize that I am not going to put myself at risk like that. If he was an inmate there, he probably still has friends there that he may be in contact with. The last thing I need to do is give away any information which may identify myself and put me in harms way because I do speak out and I am sure the gangs and other violent inmates we have won't be appreciative of my honesty, which is exposing them and bringing heat on them. I'm sure you can all understand that. Just know that I am not, nor have I ever been discourteous to any inmate who approached me with respect and I do the best I can to help each inmate resolve any issues they bring to my attention. I am not one of those who see inmates as animals, as a matter of fact, i realize that from my own past, it is nothing but the grace of God that kept me from being on the other side of the fence. Some of the things I did as a teenager could get you killed now but I just thought it was all good fun, not realizing, until I grew up, how irresponsible I was being.
i think stressed has put very useful info on here for us and i thank him for what he tells us ...... and please stressed if you have any info in what jsister was saying please let us know my guy was supposed to called tuesday and i havent heard from him i was worried a little but now im worried alot

That's understandable. :) According to your ticker, you don't have much longer to worry, huh? :thumbsup:



Not much longer at all!!!! he gets out the day after my birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!!:D we have been together off and on for 8-9 yrs. And the last 5 he's been in prison. I can't wait until he comes home!

Stress i thank you for your honesty and helpful thought and information. You are right about me still haveing friends at D ray. I have spoken to some recently. I was writing a few of them and know some families. I was lucky enough to be at one of their houses the other night when he called them.
I spoke with him and asked some questions. He acknowledged it has gradually went to the bad side, However he said there is a new Warden there who pretty much got a new management staf when he came.
New deputy Wardens and a new Major and Captains Sergents and all. I was surprised to hear Of the investigator there now. He was a tough C/O back when i was there along with some of the Captains. The newest captain i Knew at Phillips.
He told me Lts have been promoted to Captains and man i am surprised! I am refraining from names just in case i am wrong.
The way he spoke sounds like the Warden is taking control of the inmates bringing discipline to his staff and the inmates which is a good thing.
See people that have never been incarserated do not understand how important discipline is on each side of the gates.
Again i did not mean to offend you but if not for DRay i would not have obtained my degree and education so excuse my dedication to the place it really did change my life. For those of you that dont know it has a better education program than all the state. I am also sorry if i offended anyone else and pray things do change. But remember people must want to change.

This is really a terrible outrage. You know the word is out through the system of how bad James is.it has gained quite a reputation. You would think Corporate would get their act together and do what they need to keep the CO's safe and other inmates. I really feel bad for all the CO's and those inmates that are behaving, this is a major concern, for their well being and yours.
I wish there was something we could do to help.
PLEASE! anyone wanting to help I think I know how we can get this done if interested send me your info. to Leighx2 . THANKS MAD MAMA:angry:

Just To Let Everyone Know I was just threaten by longhornfan because of my comment earlier. It said stay out of our bussiness I know who u are. WELL THEY DONT KNOW ME VERY WELL IF THEY DID THEY WOULD KNOW I DO NOT SCARE!!!

whos longhorn? i dont see anything from them. do they know what you are talking about?

Just To Let Everyone Know I was just threaten by longhornfan because of my comment earlier. It said stay out of our bussiness I know who u are. WELL THEY DONT KNOW ME VERY WELL IF THEY DID THEY WOULD KNOW I DO NOT SCARE!!!
Who is longhornfan? I couldnt find a post any where on prison talk from them. and I also searched the members and nothing,. does anyone know?

SORRY, I Did find them on the member search.

I would like to start off by saying there are some falsehoods being told to you people on this site by some officers about D Ray. Sure there are gangs there, there are gangs in every prison in the nation. Are there drugs? Sure there are, as there are at other facilities.
I mean goodness people it is a prison. the people are in there for committing crimes. Do you think some of them stopped once they got in to prison? Heck no! some have decided to change their lives around. I do applaud them too.
You have been fed misinterpretations that management doesn't care about Staff or Inmates. THATS A BUNCH OF BULL!
The Warden cares about whats is RIGHT! If its staff ok if its Inmates ok. He has elected Deputy Warden, Major and the administrative Captains and Shift Captains who are on top of the game. The investigator is turning up rocks on staff, Gang members, drug dealers and just everyone. Everyone i mentioned does care about what happens to staff and Inmates.
What the stressed one fails to tell you is the times of beating Inmates is over and we have to use our heads to do our jobs. We are tasked every day to combat Inmates intellect and ingunity. Braun is good when it is needed and JUSTIFIED not because an Inmate was masturbating on one of us and when our supervisor seen it we did something about it only then.
D Ray is still one of the safest prisons in georgia. Staff and Inmates fail to use the systems available to help them. So believe me when i say "you shouldn't listen to one story until you have the whole truth."
What stress also fails to see is if cornell is shut down so is the job that he/she has. Then all the Inmates go to a state facility with the same problems, if not worse, that they had.
Bottom Line: If i was an inmate i would tell my family a sad story so i could get sympathy and hopefully my family would try to get me a transfer closer to home. If i was a c/o i would feed you bogus info because maybe i am involved with an inmate or I don't do my job and have write ups for it and am disgruntled and i need to quit.
The c/os are there to manage the inmate population. The inmates for the most part just want to do their time. Its the 10% that give staff trouble and only 10% who call their familes up claiming false information.Then Careing families want to believe their love ones call and raise a fuss then to be told their son lied to them. Its a sad revolution.
If inmates want to do something then do what We as citizens have to pay for and get an education for free. It is sad an inmate can obtain a degree for free when upstanding citizens have to pay for it. But either way if he wants to better himself he can. Staff do promote education, recreation, and anything that will tire them out so they can sleep at night.

Well,,,Im sorry concerned,,I really have to call ya on this one,,my brother was there a year,,and it was only when he came home that he told me what hell on earth is really like,,I also have another brother in prison and he also says that inmates that come in from D Ray tells the same story,,and for the entire year my brother was there he was told by the counselor that there were no GED class"s,,and when I called myself they also told me that the class"s were on hold for the time being,,I think I speak for most of the families here when I say that we dont want our loved ones to get tucked in bed at night,,all we want is to know that they are safe,,and from everything we have heard they are not! In fact it seems that noone really is safe there,,but as far as what is free at Dray,,nothing much if anything,,because I do know that the inmates are issued used cloths ,boots etc; and told to sign that what they received was new,,,but maybe we are not talking about the same prison,,If Im wrong,,I will be the first to admit it,,,,

I can't believe there are so many COs on this site,

jsis,,it makes you wander dosnt it,,,

check out the thank-you that appears for the post by concerned c/o one is from longhornfan the way i found it was by clicking on his name it took me to his profile and he has no infromation expect that he's from usa he has no post no comments of course not he only does his message's in private and he had been a member for a while.

whos longhorn? i dont see anything from them. do they know what you are talking about?
I looked him up from the message he sent me he has no comments,post or info but his name appears as a thank you under concerned c/o comment you can click his name there and read for your self but I will tell you that I checked his profile about 7:30a and he was logged in & had been since 5:30 it even told where he was at but he still hadnt posted anything.

jsis,,it makes you wander dosnt it,,,

I can only speak for myself, but I promise you, I am not here to harm anyone; just to help, answer questions, and give an officer's viewpoint. Like StressedCO, I came across this site by chance, but decided to stick around. I know most of you distrust/dislike us for whatever reason (I still don't get it, and probably never will), but I wish it to be known that most of the CO's I know are just normal people like you, trying to pay bills and get home every day. There are good, bad, and indifferent people in every profession.

I would like to start off by saying there are some falsehoods being told to you people on this site by some officers about D Ray. Sure there are gangs there, there are gangs in every prison in the nation. Are there drugs? Sure there are, as there are at other facilities.
I mean goodness people it is a prison. the people are in there for committing crimes. Do you think some of them stopped once they got in to prison? Heck no! some have decided to change their lives around. I do applaud them too.
You have been fed misinterpretations that management doesn't care about Staff or Inmates. THATS A BUNCH OF BULL!
The Warden cares about whats is RIGHT! If its staff ok if its Inmates ok. He has elected Deputy Warden, Major and the administrative Captains and Shift Captains who are on top of the game. The investigator is turning up rocks on staff, Gang members, drug dealers and just everyone. Everyone i mentioned does care about what happens to staff and Inmates.
What the stressed one fails to tell you is the times of beating Inmates is over and we have to use our heads to do our jobs. We are tasked every day to combat Inmates intellect and ingunity. Braun is good when it is needed and JUSTIFIED not because an Inmate was masturbating on one of us and when our supervisor seen it we did something about it only then.
D Ray is still one of the safest prisons in georgia. Staff and Inmates fail to use the systems available to help them. So believe me when i say "you shouldn't listen to one story until you have the whole truth."
What stress also fails to see is if cornell is shut down so is the job that he/she has. Then all the Inmates go to a state facility with the same problems, if not worse, that they had.
Bottom Line: If i was an inmate i would tell my family a sad story so i could get sympathy and hopefully my family would try to get me a transfer closer to home. If i was a c/o i would feed you bogus info because maybe i am involved with an inmate or I don't do my job and have write ups for it and am disgruntled and i need to quit.
The c/os are there to manage the inmate population. The inmates for the most part just want to do their time. Its the 10% that give staff trouble and only 10% who call their familes up claiming false information.Then Careing families want to believe their love ones call and raise a fuss then to be told their son lied to them. Its a sad revolution.
If inmates want to do something then do what We as citizens have to pay for and get an education for free. It is sad an inmate can obtain a degree for free when upstanding citizens have to pay for it. But either way if he wants to better himself he can. Staff do promote education, recreation, and anything that will tire them out so they can sleep at night.

I looked back through StressedCO's posts, and he actually had some good things to say about the warden.

The bottom line is this: the admin staff who do care can't do anything, because their hands are tied. They do what GDC tells them to do. Many of them don't care. They don't want to hear our concerns, and tell us we should be thankful to have a job in this economy. They don't want to listen to anything we have to say, as long as they don't have to be bothered or inconvenienced in any way.

You can go ahead and accuse me of your statement that I highlighted in red, but I can assure you that while yes, I am disgruntled, and yes, I am going to school so I can quit, I do not have any write ups, I do my job the best I can with what little I am given, and I have neva-eva been involved with an inmate, and I don't appreciate YOU insinuating that just because we are voicing concerns about our safety and our working conditions, that it is in any way out of our own corruption. :angry:

Inmates are issued serviceable clothing. Heck I can not afford to go out and buy brand new clothes whats the difference? They are not forced to sign anything that says new. Just that they were issued some clothes. See there again you only have half the story. As for the classes they are scheduled every 3 months. If the classes are full they are full. Dang what is it that people want, for us to lay asside and let inmates do as they please just as they were not in prison.? As for the stories ....every inmate has stories from where they came from. Your loved one didnt tell you stories from other prisons? Be Honest with us and yourself.
I have read where the stressed one has told yoou stories of counsellors not being available to inmates.... They are in buildings everyday 5 days a week and in the chow hall 4 days a week during chow. Is it the counsellors fault the inmate did not come see them when they were there? I don't think so.
The stressed one tells you of innmates getting hurt but why? So you will worry? Come on I won't go into detail but they lied about the facts!
The truth be told if you have concerns call the institution and speak to the Warden. He will speak to you. Get the truth from the horse not the MULES REAR!
It upsets me that there sre officers sworn to the oath they took that do not want to uphold it because they have been overcomne by greed, sex, or love by an inmate.
I LOVE my job and enjoy manageing inmates. Some actually better themselves and they do care about getting out.
To the Officers that do not like the job GET OUT! its not for you then quit. Stop putting D. Ray in the mud because you dont know how to speak to inmates and you only want to abuse them.
D. Ray is about what is right not what someone thinks is right thats why there are policies!

I looked back through StressedCO's posts, and he actually had some good things to say about the warden.

The bottom line is this: the admin staff who do care can't do anything, because their hands are tied. They do what GDC tells them to do. Many of them don't care. They don't want to hear our concerns, and tell us we should be thankful to have a job in this economy. They don't want to listen to anything we have to say, as long as they don't have to be bothered or inconvenienced in any way.

You can go ahead and accuse me of your statement that I highlighted in red, but I can assure you that while yes, I am disgruntled, and yes, I am going to school so I can quit, I do not have any write ups, I do my job the best I can with what little I am given, and I have neva-eva been involved with an inmate, and I don't appreciate YOU insinuating that just because we are voicing concerns about our safety and our working conditions, that it is in any way out of our own corruption. :angry:
Why dont you voice your concerns one on one with the Warden or your chain of command?

Thanks for the info. D.ray is a prison i do agree concerned. but Not all staff are as you appear to be.

How do i check my private messages?

I understand that its prison not the Hilton, and I understand they did the crime now they have to do the time. BUT they are human and if you put 125 --175 preachers in a dorm with NO air and the temp. outside 95-100 THEY are going to get upset and not get along plus its not 1st grade don't punish the WHOLE dorm because some jerks got in a fight, 9 times out of 10 their fighting over store call they dont care if they don't get store they did'nt have money anyway thats why they were fighting. SORRY I just wanted to vent. I'm sure somebody on here is going to slap my hand for saying this, O WELL

Leigh why dont you report longhornfan to the moderators of this site,,and report it to David,,he is the founder of Prison talk,,always an upstanding guy,,,and will not put up with anyone sending out threats in anyway,,he will BAN THEM FOREVER.

As for concernedco,,,I really dont have anything to gain by defending inmates at Dray,,because my brother is home now,,and as for stories,,he NEVER told me anything about that place till he came home,,I had already been hearing about it from other families,,but its only natural that you want to defend your job,,you said yourself you enjoy MANAGING INMATES,,

Why dont you voice your concerns one on one with the Warden or your chain of command?

Did you even read my post???

The bottom line is this: the admin staff who do care can't do anything, because their hands are tied. They do what GDC tells them to do. Many of them don't care. They don't want to hear our concerns, and tell us we should be thankful to have a job in this economy. They don't want to listen to anything we have to say, as long as they don't have to be bothered or inconvenienced in any way.

Sorry my big mouth has something to say: I don't guess it really matters about the cloths because its so HOT 95- 100 in there they have told the inmates that they don't have to dress they can wear there boxers and tshirts,. There are to many people saying the same things about how bad it is so you cant tell me its not true. Also the "counsellors" are not there for the inmates my brother has ask to see his and has not yet, I called and they said that the "counsellor" has a blah blah amount of inmates that he deals with that my brother needs to put in a request to see him, he has put in alot of request and not a thing has happen so I'm sorry its not like you say they can't JUST walk up to them in the "chow hall" and talk to them. I have called the Warden more than once and could not speak to him. has he called me back? NO. So when the "horse" calls I'll know the truth but until then I'll go by what the "MULES REAR" says. stressedco does NOT have to tell us about the inmates getting hurt we hear it from our loved ones and we believe them because 90% of the people on here tells the same story. My brother said that they are some cos that are GREAT but some not to good, he said they take alot because the inmates know they can't do anything to them because of the rules. I guess thats all for now. Sorry if this upsets anyone, its just how I feel...

Ok everyone has had a bad experience. But i am telling you the stressed one is full of half truths. Where have they been lately? No post no nothing. See just enough to get things stirred.

I can assure you there is someone that will talk to you. there is the Warden, 2 Deputy Wardens, A Major, A Unit Investigator, A Chief Counselor, the Wardens Secretary.

There is only 3 state facilities with air conditioning and they only use it sometimes. D. Ray is not strict on the inmates keeping a full dress in the building in their dorm or cell.

But think about it...The officers are in full uniform they are in direct sun light they can not take their shirts off, wear flip flops and shorts. If a person (inmate) can learn self discipline in a prison how much he can learn when he is released.

All i'm saying is the stressed one is so disgruntled they only post the bad stuff and forget the good stuff.

the night the co was jumped.. I.A. was there to conduct an investigation and protect other staff from doing something they would loose their jobs over.S what if the inmates left unharmed? They left and IA will do their job. Now we have to move on and continue to do what is best for all.

I say again there are good people aty D. Ray. Families should feel at ease just knowing their family member is there. People do care.

If you have been calling the warden try another sorce that i listed.

Stress can let the cat have their tongue.

ok my turn to vent......first off yea i know there are some cos at dray that are good to the inmates ive meet them first hand but then theres more there that just let there jobs go to there heads and treat the inmates and the inmates families like crap just bc they know they can.and further more for concerned to get so upset or irritated by what another co or any other pto member posts just proves to me that he is one of the co's at d ray that has something to hide bc why else would you get so irratated bc of someones input on the way they see things?and as far as getting the truth from the horse and not the mules rear well if the horse is not there to answer ur calls or just wont answer ur calls and the mule answers ur questions then im with the mules rear.....i would not treat a stray dog the way those inmates are treated and yes my guy has been to other prisons he is not new to this he has been to several and d ray is by far the worst one ...ok im done venting and i am sorry if i offended anyone but i had to get it off my chest

Ok everyone has had a bad experience. But i am telling you the stressed one is full of half truths. Where have they been lately? No post no nothing. See just enough to get things stirred.

I can assure you there is someone that will talk to you. there is the Warden, 2 Deputy Wardens, A Major, A Unit Investigator, A Chief Counselor, the Wardens Secretary.

There is only 3 state facilities with air conditioning and they only use it sometimes. D. Ray is not strict on the inmates keeping a full dress in the building in their dorm or cell.

But think about it...The officers are in full uniform they are in direct sun light they can not take their shirts off, wear flip flops and shorts. If a person (inmate) can learn self discipline in a prison how much he can learn when he is released.

All I'm saying is the stressed one is so disgruntled they only post the bad stuff and forget the good stuff.

the night the co was jumped.. I.A. was there to conduct an investigation and protect other staff from doing something they would loose their jobs over.S what if the inmates left unharmed? They left and IA will do their job. Now we have to move on and continue to do what is best for all.

I say again there are good people aty D. Ray. Families should feel at ease just knowing their family member is there. People do care.

If you have been calling the warden try another source that i listed.

Stress can let the cat have their tongue. If D.Ray is so good and the officer's & inmate's are lying then why was Internal Affairs there.Maybe instead of running the officer's down on here you should be helping them.I know I.A. was not there to have a tea party.It's officer's who want to pretend that D.Ray hasn't any problems is why things are so unsafe for everyone.And about calling and actually speaking to someone I have phone records to show that I have called over 40 times in the last month I can count on 1 hand the times I got to speak to the person I asked for and if your lucky enough to get a voice mail that's not full,and I leave my call back info. not ever have I gotten a return call.I have never got to speak to the warden only his sec. once.I really don't know what prison world your living in,but it must be a different one then the one @ the real D.Ray.

ok my turn to vent......first off yea i know there are some cos at dray that are good to the inmates ive meet them first hand but then theres more there that just let there jobs go to there heads and treat the inmates and the inmates families like crap just bc they know they can.and further more for concerned to get so upset or irritated by what another co or any other pto member posts just proves to me that he is one of the co's at d ray that has something to hide bc why else would you get so irratated bc of someones input on the way they see things?and as far as getting the truth from the horse and not the mules rear well if the horse is not there to answer ur calls or just wont answer ur calls and the mule answers ur questions then im with the mules rear.....i would not treat a stray dog the way those inmates are treated and yes my guy has been to other prisons he is not new to this he has been to several and d ray is by far the worst one ...ok im done venting and i am sorry if i offended anyone but i had to get it off my chest
What bothers me is the cos that are lying to you people. Getting people upset as to get off on their reaction of what they said.
I have nothing to hide. Yes i came from Cali. Worked with Cornell there as well. Same problems there as there are here. BOY WHAT A SHOCKER HUH?
It is procedure if an inmate is stabbed for I.A. to show up. SEE what an ill advised co will say when they dont know how the system works? Funny huh how now you are reading and thinking.....hmmmmm i was lied to. Go ahead make your calls and see that i am right. I.A. was not there because the staff did something wrong.
As for your guy he probably did not follow the rules and was singled out. Inmates who don't follow rules at any facility get noticed.
I wou;ld love to see the 40 plus calls where you talked to no one. come on 40?
Lastly a co cant hide too much because of the cameras that are there. thats why the inside corruption has dwendled. However it is still there and the stress one is most likely wrapped all in it.

IF "It is procedure if an inmate is stabbed for I.A. to show up" D Ray should house them in the dorm because IA would be there daily. The stabbings maybe not be REAL BAD everyday but stabbings happen OFTEN .

I am not aware of IA showing up for ALL stabbings, if this was the case we would have an IA unit there at all times. IA is only called in when there is a formal complaint filed to them. Such as a few years ago when the CERT team was being investigated for excessive us of force which was wrong--and a bunch of the best officers and a few Sgts. walked out of there and never looked back. Cause they were tired of all the false allegations made on them and thats when the CERT Team was dissolved. When we had a very severe stabbing in front of one of the open dorms--NO IA was called. People need to get the facts right.
This is a prison its not sesame street people.Things happen beyond anyone control, it doesn't matter if we are over staffed(lol) Things are gonna happen --it's prison!!!

My brother is at D Ray and he was there when cert team was there and he said that the cert team made a difference and security was better as far as doin the co job i am not sure of that. He knows who the 2 officers were that got fired and they had a bad history of alleged officer misconduct but the facility responded and fired them once they had all proof needed.

Gee, thanks....:eek:
sorry maybe i said that wrong bc there are a few cos that ive ran into that are great cos and that do make the difference so starboxer i do apoligize there are some cos that do there job and treat the inmates the way they need to be treated i was just on my soap box yesterday and irritated a little with concerned didnt mean that u or anyone else wasnt a good co i appreciate the advice that we get from you and the others sorry for not putting it right in the earlier post

Good evening everyone. How is it going?

Well hello concerned. Why so nice? I have a question for ya? Since i am an ex inmate coould i visit some one in there?

not at the institution you came from

Why not!!!!!!!!!

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Thank you.

ATTENTION MEMBERS!

You have been told to get back onto topic - PTO Staff has dealt with this issue, and from this point on I don't give a darn who said or did what, and I do not want to see more post on that issue or this thread will be closed, and any further off topic post will be removed and you will be suspended from PTO for 3 days.

Goldenglove has pmmed all involved, and this issue is resolved.

If you have any issues you may contact me via Private Message, but this thread is NOT the place to air any disagreements.

If you do not know what I am talking about, then this is not aimed at you, all offending post and off topic post have been removed.

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get a TPM? Is there a number I can call to see about it? When I call the PB number and put in the GDC it says investigating its been saying that for months now..Thanks

sometimes it can take months for a tpm to show up,,and one more thing,,when you call pb,,and they dont have an answer,,you can call the doc and they may have info for you,,,in fact I stated on another thread that my brother wasnt even given a tpm,not till he was about 3 weeks from getting released,,and up to that point,,all we got was its being investigated,,so chin up darlin,,and good luck,,

sometimes it can take months for a tpm to show up,,and one more thing,,when you call pb,,and they dont have an answer,,you can call the doc and they may have info for you,,,in fact I stated on another thread that my brother wasnt even given a tpm,not till he was about 3 weeks from getting released,,and up to that point,,all we got was its being investigated,,so chin up darlin,,and good luck,,
I would like to know how long it takes once the doc has release certificate from pb to get to prison & inmate can be released if anyone knows? Thanks

leigh,,as of right now,,my youngest brother is only waiting for an address confirmation from home,,and he will get his release date,,I called Washington,,{oops} I mean Atlanta today and was told that he was granted parole,,address confer is all that is the holdup,,so once they have that its only a matter of being sized up,,,,,yea,,my momma and daddy will be soooo happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can we send money through the new pay thing yet? and if so what is the site? I can't find it on here, thanks

Can we send money through the new pay thing yet? and if so what is the site? I can't find it on here, thanks
The new system is ready for use the web site is accesscorrections.com it seems like a good thing the money is credited to the inmate account the same day some prisons they service have mail service for the inmates,I wish D.Ray had that then it would be hard for some one to steal the mail. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more info.:)

Is this new pay thing also the same as jpay>????????????????if not,,then what is it,,I havnt heard of it,,,,

yea its like jpay just another company.

where has every one gone?

I guess its because of the arguments of whats true and whats not thats why I stoped posting among other reasons.

Me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

??

where has every one gone?
I'll start by saying first that I've been sick & haven't felt up to posting much,only to answer a quick question was all. Just my opinion but I think everyone's afraid to say much for fear of been deleted or banned. But just b/c we are not posting about James Correctional Facility doesn't mean we have forgotten that they are problems at that Facility.I had hoped that this site could be beneficial for inmates, family's of the inmates and correctional staff. But a official at Ga. Dept. Of Corrections is very interested in any concerns that inmates, family's or staff might have his name is Tim Ward his contact # is 404-656-6002 he has been concerned with the problems occurring at D. Ray James so please give his office a call and let him know any concerns you may be having.I hope that this post will help anyone involved with this facility or any facility in the state of Ga. Thanks :thumbsup:

thanks!

Can we still send money orders to D Ray? If so for how long? And Are we going to have a choice between sending money orders and the online pay? I was just thinking about people that don't have a computer, Thanks

The problem with D Ray James is it is a private camp and there is alot of corruption there also it is gang riddled. If you are a loner then your going to have problems there. If your not affiliated then your more then likely going to be paying somebody for protection ( for such things as your store and such ) There are some benefits to private camp im just not sure what they are. But as always in any prison if your not looking for trouble you more then likely arent going to find it.

Can we still send money orders to D Ray? If so for how long? And Are we going to have a choice between sending money orders and the online pay? I was just thinking about people that don't have a computer, Thanks I think we can still send money orders till Aug. 31st but after that every one will have to use access but please don't take my word on that call D.RAY @ 1-912-496-6242 ext.75332 a Mrs. Danforce can tell u for sure on the date but any one can also use the system by calling 1-866-345-1884 enter prompt 1 if your inmate is a state prisoner there the reason I didn't use it was that it cost more to use the phone system instead of the web. Hopes this helps, Leighx2

The problem with D Ray James is it is a private camp and there is alot of corruption there also it is gang riddled. If you are a loner then your going to have problems there. If your not affiliated then your more then likely going to be paying somebody for protection ( for such things as your store and such ) There are some benefits to private camp im just not sure what they are. But as always in any prison if your not looking for trouble you more then likely arent going to find it.
Maybe we can change that

My brother is located in this prison and I must say this has been interesting reading all of your comments and experiences.

I'm just now going thru the process of getting registered to see my brother. I was really growing concerned by his tone since he's been transferred to this facility.

He's stated that the guards are very aggressive and pretty much exercise discipline throughout the entire facility for the actions of a few inmates. Now, I agree with some of the comments made by members of the prison staff that remind us that this is a prison and not a sleep away camp.

But I do feel that some of the feedback I've received from my brother is disturbing.

All we can honestly do is pray for our loved ones, give them whatever support we can to help them get through this experience, and hope that this experience will not define them.

Thanks for all of the advice on how the inner workings of the visitations are handled and the many other tips you've all offered.

I called and talked to the lady n she said as of august 1st they are no longer taking money orders

ok I think I just replied to a really old post...it's been a long day!

Gtl.

my son was moved to d ray correctional facility today. How do i find out the phone service provider for this facility?
Thanks!

Just checking in.... D ray has been pretty quiet. and i see the old bashers have been as well. The warden has really taken a good approach and has read some of your comments. what we have to rember, discipline must start with the staff and trickle to the inmates.If the staff are not disciplined then how can we expect them to discipline the inmates. An institution must have discipline all around to run smoothly.

GOD IS GOOD.... PRAYER WORKS
GREAT NEWS!!! My brother is no longer at D Ray James, WOO HOO!! he left ALIVE and with NO DRs. He said that scence he was a felon and could not carry a gun that he is going to get a tatoo that says "I SURVIVED D RAY JAMES PRISON" and instead of pulling a gun he would pull his shirt off and let them see the tat. that they would back off... LOL. I wll give credit where credit is due he said that there a few people there that he had respect for, I only have last names but I want to thank you for doing your job, Smith (female) said she was nice and did not treat the inmates like animals, and that she needs to find another job that she don't deserve to be treated like she is by the inmates. Young (male) He runs it right, he does not back down, he lets the inmates know whos in charge and when he was working you felt better. Daniels (male) bottom line hes a good man,he treats you right and knows that you messed up but that your still a human. I said in an earlier post that I know its prison and not the Hilton, but the things that go on in prison or at D Ray in my opinion is the same thing that M. Vick was put in prison for... the only difference is he caged dogs and let them fight and D Ray cages humans and lets them fight. Although he is no longer at D Ray the memories will always be with him. Ask anyone that has a family member or friend in prison and they will tell you that the whole family is also. I was there with him every step of the way and I will tell you it was pure H### for me. I will continue to pray for the inmates that want to change, there family, and the CO's at D Ray. and THANKS TO MY PTO FRIENDS :) GOD BLESS

It's so sad that the prisons can get so bad that they're compared to caging animals and illegal dog-fighting rings! I have no experience with this prison, but from what I've read, I thank God... I hate it for the rest of you, but maybe things can and will change!!!

jsister,,thank god your brother is out of there,,when I told my brother that he threw his hands in the air,,and said "Praise God,,thats another one thats been spared,,,",,I thank god every day that my brother came out of there alive,,and while some say we may be exagerating,,they only have to have a family member go there to be able to experience the real truth.And kudoes to the guards that you mentioned,,my brother also says that there are some that we really good to him,,one day he may be able to remember the names and I can post it here,,but for now,,he has only just started to open up about certain things,,but he prays all the time for the inmates that watched out for him,,and I pray for all of them,,,,and the co"s.

My guy FINALLY got transfered out of d ray yeahhh....he made it out of there with no stab wounds n luckly nobody tried to rob himwhile he was there so that part is finally behind us now if he could just come home.....

THANK GOD another one out alive. I am glad and I know you feel better, its getting better. hang on.

My guy transfered out of there a couple weeks ago, with no drs! but as soon as he got to his new place he caught his first dr! I keep all you that have loved ones still at D Ray in my prayers.

hi my name is lia and my boyfriend as been sent to d ray on 08/27/2009--i have not heard from him he call be the first night but i miss the call when i cal the # back it told me i had to set up an account pcs daily dail so i did but he still hasn't call. i call the prison to see if he was there they have me a # but i am still unable to locate him on the website so i just wrote him a letter with the # i miss hi so much and i can't stop crying do you know how long it will take for me to talk to him?

My brothr called within 24`hours after getting to D Ray. But a guy that got there with him took 2 weeks before he could call. sooooo who knows. I'm sure he is ok.

My brother is at James D Ray. He is currently awaiting sentencing. He has been there for over a year now. He very seldom calls home so I don't get to talk to him very often. I have such a hard time finding any information on his facility. Any information would be greatly appreciated. None of my family has been able to go see him, as he has asked us not to come there. I guess he doesn't want us to see him there. He is looking at major time though so I'm hoping that we will eventually be able to go see him. Anyway, I look forward to getting to know you all better and hope to find out more information about where my brother is. Thanks.

Welcome to the GA forum.

I'm sure someone will come along and give you an update on James Correctional. I know this private prison was a hot topic just a couple months ago.
I hope your brother will have a change of heart. He needs all the support he can get. I am so sorry for you and your family, this is such a hard thing to go through!!

Again welcome.

he can put in for a transfer out of there after six months,,and ask him to do so,,also If at all possible,,go see him if you can,,and for gods sake write letters,,its not the best place and I dont want to worry you,,just tell him to keep to himself,,try to keep communication lines open,,my brother was there,,and if does put in for a transfer,,you have to stay on top of those people,,good luck to ya,,send me a message if you need any info,,

Hi moma k

howdy,,still not feeling to good,,

Hi LittleSis.
It depends on which building your brother is in. Some are ok while it seems like others are just totally out of control. When we first got there almost 2 yrs ago it was actually better than it is now, but I think they are trying to tighten things up. If your brother works and takes classes....basically keeps busy....he will be fine. What kind of info are you looking for?

My brother is at James D Ray. He is currently awaiting sentencing. He has been there for over a year now. He very seldom calls home so I don't get to talk to him very often. I have such a hard time finding any information on his facility. Any information would be greatly appreciated. None of my family has been able to go see him, as he has asked us not to come there. I guess he doesn't want us to see him there. He is looking at major time though so I'm hoping that we will eventually be able to go see him. Anyway, I look forward to getting to know you all better and hope to find out more information about where my brother is. Thanks.

im a former officer at d ray and things were bad when i was out there.... ive been gone for over a year now and still are in close contact with peple who work there and its not any better... i always respected everyone i came into contact with as long as they repected me a lot of the officers out there were like it was their job to punish those men but those men our fathers, brothers, husbands etc. I was well liked by people but looked at as being " dirty" because of that... I didnt like the job because of how I came there to do my job which is supervise the inmates not punish them and got harrassed for it.... its crazy and the sad part was on most occassions the inmates there would help me, have my back and everything more than my fellow offiers... that place is always short staffed ive had to run a building by myself numerous nights from a control booth alone. ive had times where they started chow and didnt finish til after midnight! it had its good days and its bad......