{{Short description|Men's prison in Georgia, United States}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox Prison | prison_name = Hancock State Prison | image = | location = 701 Prison Boulevard <br />Sparta, Georgia address | coordinates = | status = | classification = | capacity = 1191<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gdc.georgia.gov/locations/hancock-state-prison|title=Hancock State Prison|website=Georgia Department of Corrections | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728214901/https://gdc.georgia.gov/locations/hancock-state-prison | archive-date=2023-07-28}}</ref> | opened = 1991 | closed = | managed_by = Georgia Department of Corrections | director = }}
'''Hancock State Prison''' is a Georgia Department of Corrections state prison for men located in unincorporated Hancock County, Georgia,<ref>{{cite map|author=Geography Division|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st13_ga/county/c13141_hancock/DC20BLK_C13141.pdf|title=2020 Census - Census Block Map: Hancock County, GA|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|date=April 13, 2021|page=5 (PDF p. 6/10)|access-date=2025-10-06|quote=Hancock State Prison}}</ref> with a Sparta postal address.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/GDC/FacilityMap/html/hancock_state_prison.html |title=|| Georgia Department of Corrections || |access-date=2014-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222060745/http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/GDC/FacilityMap/html/hancock_state_prison.html |archive-date=2014-02-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The facility opened in 1991 and currently has a capacity of 1191 prisoners.
In 2010, Hancock state prison participated in the 2010 Georgia prison strike using contraband cell phones. The goal was to improve safety in Georgia state prisons and get rid of free labor.
A riot in November 2011 left 12 prisoners injured. The fight was gang-related, and organized with contraband cell phones.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/134536263.html |title=Fight at Hancock State Prison sends 12 inmates to hospital |website=www.wrdw.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221171405/http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/134536263.html |archive-date=2014-02-21}} </ref> Hancock is one of several high-security Georgia state prisons found to have a large percentage of inoperative locks. In June 2012 auditors found 28% of Hancock's locks either didn't work or could be defeated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.correctionsone.com/corrections/articles/6303767-Ga-state-prison-finds-new-issue-with-locks/|title=Ga. State prison finds new issue with locks|access-date=2014-02-05|archive-date=2013-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130912024304/http://www.correctionsone.com/corrections/articles/6303767-Ga-state-prison-finds-new-issue-with-locks/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Hancock was one of nine Georgia state prisons implicated in an FBI sting operation announced in February 2016. The agency indicted 47 correction officers who'd agreed to deliver illegal drugs while in uniform. These charges were "part of a larger public corruption investigation into Georgia Correctional Facilities".<ref>{{cite news|title=47 Georgia Correctional Officers Arrested in Drug Conspiracy|url=http://wsav.com/2016/02/11/46-georgia-correctional-officers-arrested-in-drug-conspiracy/|accessdate=28 July 2016|publisher=WSAV|date=11 Feb 2016|archive-date=3 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003180035/http://wsav.com/2016/02/11/46-georgia-correctional-officers-arrested-in-drug-conspiracy/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Convicted serial killer Wayne Williams is serving a life sentence at Hancock, as is Charles Lee Duffy.
==Notable inmates== {|class="wikitable sortable" |- !width=13%|Inmate Name !width=10%|Register Number !width=28%|Status !width=35%|Details |- |style="text-align:center;"| Stephen Mark McDaniel |style="text-align:center;"| 1001291310 | Life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years | Perpetrator of the 2011 Murder of Lauren Giddings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-08-04 |title=Georgia law student accused of killing and dismembering classmate, Lauren Giddings |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2011/08/04/georgia-law-student-accused-of-killing-and-dismembering-classmate-lauren-giddings/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=New York Daily News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-21 |title='TRULY EVIL': McDaniel pleads guilty to Giddings' murder |url=https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/giddings-case/truly-evil-mcdaniel-pleads-guilty-to-giddings-murder/93-299124285 |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=wcnc.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2014-04-23 |title=Georgia man Stephen McDaniel pleads guilty to strangling, dismembering Lauren Giddings - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/georgia-man-pleads-guilty-to-strangling-dismembering-woman/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |style="text-align:center;"| Andre Jason Pugh |style="text-align:center;"| 1002405939 | Serving a life sentence. | Had his wife Tiffany murdered in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-10 |title=Atlanta DJ's Wife Murdered At Home, Where Toddler Son Saw Horrifying Scene and Tried to Wake Her |url=https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/dj-andre-pugh-hired-hitman-to-kill-wife-tiffany-jackson-pugh |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=NBC Insider Official Site |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Find an Offender {{!}} Georgia Department of Corrections |url=https://services.gdc.ga.gov/GDC/OffenderQuery/jsp/OffQryRedirector.jsp |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=services.gdc.ga.gov}}</ref> |}
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{State prisons in Georgia}}
Category:Prisons in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Buildings and structures in Hancock County, Georgia Category:1991 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)