THOMASVILLE — After close to nine decades of housing convicted criminals, Thomas County Prison will close Friday.

The last of the inmate population was shipped from the 324 Joiner Road facility Thursday.

Thomas County commissioners decided in late 2016 to close the prison when it became obvious the institution had to be replaced or major capital expenditures would have to be made.

The prison opened in 1928 with 85 state prisoners.

“Building a new prison is the option we had,” commission Chairman Ken Hickey said. 

Hickey thinks the current building should be demolished.

The Georgia Department of Corrections paid the county $20 per day for each prisoner housed. Hickey said $28 to $30 a day was needed.

Thomas County and City of Thomasville governments used inmate labor. Hickey said the cost of inmate labor kept increasing.

“Our dollars we were spending on inmate labor was costing more than it ever had,” he said.

Prisoners were taken to work sites, but if they did not want to do what was asked of them, an officer had to pick them up, return them to the prison and take a replacement inmate to the work site.

Inmates who would not work were returned to the state, and new prisoners were brought to Thomas County.

“If they didn’t work, they didn’t stay at our prison,” Hickey said.

Inmates are being replaced with equipment operated by public works employees. The work is done more efficiently and in less time than with inmate labor, Hickey said.

“We’re seeing that now,” he added.

DOC has picked up eight to 10 Thomas County Prison inmates at a time. The facility housed about 180 prisoners.

Prison Warden Bobby Geer said the facility had 29 employees who will receive severance packages of three months’ pay.

Some have transferred to county government, some to DOC prisons at Pelham or Valdosta, some to county prisons in Colquitt and Mitchell counties, some are returning to school, and one will join a fire department.

Geer will remain for a month and assist with distribution of prison inventory before pursuing other work.

“July will be 26 years now at the prison,” Geer said.

Geer, warden since 1991, said 85 percent of Thomas County Prison inmates were drug offenders. Others had been convicted of burglary and armed robbery.

Geer is the second generation of his family to serve as prison warden. His late father, Bob Geer, was warden from 1980 to 1982.

“I am sentimental about it,” Geer said.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820