OK DOC Frustrated with Lack of Funding
Frustrated Board of Corrections members on Friday criticized what they called a lack of interest among lawmakers to fund the state prison system. News reported in the Tulsa World.
The Department of Corrections plans to begin furloughing all
of its 4,514 employees starting in March to deal with budget cuts.
Some 119 employees took an early buyout offer as the agency worked to trim its budget, DOC Director Justin Jones said.
And if his budget is further cut by the minimum 7.5 percent he was told to expect in the next fiscal year, Jones said, the Corrections Department also will have to lay off 459 employees.
“That is not crying wolf,” Jones said during a regular Board of Corrections meeting at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center.
The agency also may close some prisons by increasing capacity at others, he said.
State agencies have been told to reduce their budgets as a result of declining revenue.
The cuts had been 5 percent starting in August but rose to 10 percent for December and January. Assuming that the cuts revert to 5 percent in February and stay there until the end of the fiscal year on June 30, the agency will have cut $41 million from a $503 million budget, Jones said.
Since July 1, the Department of Correction has added 709 inmates, DOC chief of operations Ken Klinger said.
The prison system is operating at 100 percent capacity, Jones said.
The board’s suggestions on ways to curb the growing prison population and reduce costs don’t seem to interest lawmakers or state leaders, Corrections Board member David Henneke said.
Board member Robert Rainey said he was “surprised, shocked and dismayed” by the response the agency has gotten from the Legislature.
He said sentencing reform will come only after a federal judicial order requires lawmakers to spend money.
“The Legislature wants to incarcerate low-risk offenders and not pay for it,” Rainey said. “It is shameful. I am embarrassed.”
The Department of Corrections can’t do more with less forever, he said.
“At the end of the day, it is a failure of our leadership,” Rainey said.
Board member Ted Logan said he envisions a scenario in which someone is hurt or killed as a result of the cuts, followed by finger-pointing.
“I hope something gives before it reaches that point,” he said.
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