SHIELDS OF SHAME / INVESTIGATIVE DOSSIER / GEORGIA
102 MPH. 104 MPH. Wet roads. School buses on the road.
The Mason Woodard disciplinary file — a documented sequence of warnings, an off-duty pursuit response, and discharge from the Murray County Sheriff’s Office.
Personnel records published by Shields of Shame describe a series of disciplinary concerns involving former Murray County Sheriff’s Office deputy Mason Woodard. The most serious documented incident occurred March 12, 2020, when, according to the disciplinary account, Woodard responded while off duty to a vehicle pursuit and drove at speeds reported as 102 mph on wet roads and 104 mph entering Eton, Georgia. This dossier brings the reported sequence, original records, and legal context into one place.
The report describes more than two high speed readings. It records a railroad crossing at 54 mph, speeds exceeding 85 mph in a residential area while school buses were on the road, a pass on the right, and a turn that required another deputy to take evasive action. These are findings attributed to the agency’s disciplinary account, not independent measurements made by Shields of Shame.
Woodard’s employment record also describes earlier counseling involving time spent in booking with a jail employee he said he was dating, alleged late arrivals at an assigned school and clock-in discrepancies, and unauthorized personal use of a county patrol vehicle. Supervisors reportedly extended his probation before the pursuit incident. The earlier events matter because the final recommendation referred to progressive discipline and continuing policy concerns, rather than presenting March 12 in isolation.
The outcome documented on the page is an employment decision: Captain J. David Gowens recommended termination, and a March 17, 2020 payroll record marks Woodard “Discharged” and “Not Eligible for Rehire.” An employment finding is not a criminal conviction, and this dossier does not assert that a court found Woodard liable or guilty. Readers can examine the linked records and screenshots below and distinguish agency conclusions from our questions about emergency driving and oversight.
01 / The disciplinary trail
Before the March pursuit response, the published personnel account describes counseling over time spent in booking, later concerns about arriving late at an assigned school and clocking in from miles away, and use of a county vehicle for personal purposes without permission. Supervisors subsequently recommended another six months of probation in light of incidents involving orders and policy compliance. The complete personnel document below should be consulted for exact wording and context.
02 / March 12: the pursuit response
According to the agency’s disciplinary report, Woodard was off duty when he joined the response to a vehicle pursuit. The reported driving included 102 mph on wet roads; 104 mph entering Eton; 54 mph over railroad tracks; and more than 85 mph through a residential area with school buses on the road. The report also describes passing on the right and turning into another deputy’s path, prompting evasive action.
Investigators further noted that Woodard arrived with his AM/FM radio playing and was not wearing his body camera. The report’s account raises distinct questions about authorization to respond, speed relative to conditions, coordination with other responding officers, and body-camera policy. The records as reproduced here do not independently establish every circumstance of the pursuit or whether emergency lights and siren were activated throughout.
03 / The employment outcome
Captain J. David Gowens’ assessment, as quoted in the existing article, cited Woodard’s extended probation and the failure of progressive discipline to correct the reported conduct, and recommended termination. A March 17, 2020 payroll entry records “Discharged” and “Not Eligible for Rehire.” That entry documents the reported agency employment outcome, not a statewide certification determination.
04 / Read the underlying documents
Exhibit A / Woodard personnel and disciplinary record
Read the underlying account of the prior counseling, pursuit response and employment action. The original file is retained unchanged; the Shields of Shame dossier surrounding it identifies its source.
Exhibit B / Redacted background record
Supplemental background document already linked in the original article. Redaction status reflects the source filename; readers should not assume that every sensitive field has been independently audited.
Document note: These are the existing source PDFs, not newly watermarked derivative copies. Altering original evidence would undermine the ability to compare it against the agency’s production. A branded overlay is used on this dossier instead; independently watermarked copies would require a separate PDF-processing step.
05 / What Georgia law says
O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6 permits qualifying emergency and law-enforcement drivers to exceed speed limits under specified circumstances, but not so as to endanger life or property; the law also preserves the duty of due regard for the safety of all persons. Emergency-vehicle privileges are subject to statutory signal requirements. A reported speed by itself does not decide whether those requirements were satisfied or whether a particular officer violated the law.
In Mixon v. City of Warner Robins (1994), Georgia’s Supreme Court discussed the continuing duty to other road users in a pursuit. The case is historical legal context, not a ruling on Woodard. Civil liability, official immunity, causation, departmental policy and any criminal charge require separate fact-specific analysis.
Questions the record raises: Who authorized an off-duty response? What did the dispatch and pursuit logs show? What emergency equipment was used? What did the contemporaneous vehicle data and radio traffic establish? What was the applicable body-camera and pursuit policy on March 12, 2020? These are questions for further reporting, not facts established by the screenshots alone.
06 / Related reporting and sources
Explore Shields of Shame’s investigative reporting and its Mason Woodard case page. Primary case sources are the two agency-record PDFs above; legal background comes from the linked Georgia statute and court decision. No unrelated agency case is presented as proof of what happened here.
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