OK Senate Studies Costs of Prison Closings
Senate leaders in Oklahoma have requested information about the costs of closing some older state prisons, but say there are no immediate plans to shutter the sites. This report from NewsOK.
Last week, the state Department of Corrections sent Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee a report detailing costs of closing three medium-security prisons. The prisons studied were selected by the department. The report examined the costs of closing Mack Alford Correctional Center in Stringtown, James Crabtree Correctional Center in Helena and the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite.In an April 1 letter written to Coffee, department Director Justin Jones said the prisons were studied because two were not designed to be prisons and one is the oldest facility …
Coffee said his request is part of an ongoing process to get information about facilities in the prison system and looking for efficiencies. An independent study of the bed space and facility conditions is expected to be turned over to legislative leaders by May. “No decisions have been made and won’t be until we have the study completed,” Coffee said. “We’re simply collecting information.”