The Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC or ODOC) is an agency of the state of Oklahoma. DOC is responsible for the administration of the state prison system. It has its headquarters in Oklahoma City, across the street from the headquarters of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. The Board of Corrections are appointees: five members are appointed by the Governor; two members are appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate; and two members are appointed by the Speaker of the house of Representatives. The board is responsible for setting the policies of the Department, approving the annual budget request, and working with the Director of Corrections on material matters of the agency. T. Hastings Siegfried is the current chairman of the board. The director, who serves at the pleasure of the governor, is the chief executive of the department. The current director of Corrections is Scott Crow, who was appointed after Director Joe Allbaugh resigned his post on June 13, 2019. Crow was confirmed by the Oklahoma State Senate as director in May 2020.
History
Prior to 1908, Oklahoma sent prisoners to the Kansas Penitentiary
in Lansing, Kansas. After a disputed report on the conditions in the Kansas Penitentiary, Oklahoma opened an institution in the former federal jail in McAlester.
On January 10, 1967, Oklahoma created a new state Corrections Department, consisting of a State Board of Corrections, State Director of Corrections, and three divisions: a Division of Institutions, a Division of Probation and Parole, and a Division of Inspection.
In 1973, a three-day riot resulted in the destruction of most of the McAlester facility and the death of three inmates.
In 1976, the first training academy was established in Oklahoma City.
On 29 August 1983, the Dick Conner Correctional Center was hit by a riot that resulted in an inmate death. On 17 December 1985 another riot occurred, this time at the McAlester prison. Five members of staff were taken hostage and three were seriously injured.
On 4 November 2019, the state released more than four hundred inmates who had been convicted of nonviolent crimes. The commutations were expected to save the state over twelve million dollars.
Facilities
As of 2021, the Department of Corrections is responsible for the management, maintenance and security of 23 correctional institutions across the state. Of these facilities, only eight were built originally to serve as prisons.
The execution chamber is located at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
State prisons
Charles E. Johnson Correctional Center (inmate capacity 600) Dick Conner Correctional Center (inmate capacity 1210) Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center (inmate capacity 999) Howard McLeod Correctional Center (inmate capacity 691) Jackie Brannon Correctional Center (inmate capacity 737) James Crabtree Correctional Center (inmate capacity 1175) Jess Dunn Correctional Center (inmate capacity 1129) Jim E. Hamilton Correctional Center (inmate capacity 730) John H. Lilley Correctional Center (inmate capacity 836) Joseph Harp Correctional Center (inmate capacity 1345) Lexington Assessment and Reception Center (inmate capacity 1462) Mabel Bassett Correctional Center (inmate capacity 1415) Mack Alford Correctional Center (inmate capacity 805) North Fork Correctional Facility (inmate capacity 2589)(formerly managed by Corrections Corporation of America) Oklahoma State Penitentiary (inmate capacity 838) Oklahoma State Reformatory (inmate capacity 1042) William S. Key Correctional Center (inmate capacity 1087)
Community Corrections Centers
Clara Waters Community Corrections Center (inmate capacity 304) Enid Community Corrections Center (inmate capacity 98) Lawton Community Corrections Center (inmate capacity 153) Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center (inmate capacity 585) Oklahoma City Community Corrections Center (inmate capacity 262) Union City Community Corrections Center (inmate capacity 224)
Private Prisons
Davis Correctional Center operated by CoreCivic
Lawton Correctional Facility operated by GEO Group
Halfway Houses
Oklahoma City Transitional Center operated by CoreCivic
Bridgeway, Inc.
Organization
Leadership
The Department of Corrections is under the supervision of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety.. Under current Governor of Oklahoma Kevin Stitt, Chip Keating is serving as the secretary. The Director of the agency is Scott Crow and was appointed on June 13, 2019, after the resignation of Joe Allbaugh. Crow was confirmed by the Oklahoma State Senate on May 12, 2020.