Oklahoma Department of Corrections


The Oklahoma Department of Corrections 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. Steven Harpe 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 Interim Director of Corrections is Scott Crow who was appointed after Director Joe Albaugh resigned his post on June 13, 2019.

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. In 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 2010, the Department of Corrections is responsible for the management, maintenance and security of 39 correctional institutes across the state. Of these facilities, only eight were built originally to serve as prisons.

State prisons

Leadership

The Department of Corrections is under the supervision of the . Under current Governor of Oklahoma Kevin Stitt, Chip Keating is serving as the Secretary. The interim-Director of the agency is Scott Crow and was appointed on June 13, 2019 after the resignation of Joe Albaugh.
The Department of Corrections is governed by the Board of Corrections. Chairman Steven Harpe leads the board made up of 9 appointees:
Steven HarpeChair
T. Hastings SiegfriedVice Chair
Michael RoachSecretary
Betty GesellMember
Lynn HaueterMember
Kathryn LaFortuneMember
Daryl WoodardMember
Joseph GriffinMember
Rod ThorntonMember

Internal structure

The internal structure of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections is as follows:
The Department of Corrections is governed by the seven-member Board of Corrections, who appoints the Director of Corrections. As the head of the Department of Corrections, the director supervises, directs, and controls the department. The director is assisted in managing the department by an associate director, six deputy directors and a general counsel.

Personnel

Staffing

The Department of Corrections, with an annual budget of over $500 million, is one of the largest employers of the State. For fiscal year 2012, the Department was authorized 4,113 employees.
DivisionNumber of Employees
Detention Facilities2454
Probation and Parole Services343
Community Corrections279
Prison Industries114
Offender Programs180
Community Sentencing Services21
Contracting Services12
Central Office Administration207
Divisional Office Administration65
Health Service301
Total3,976

Requirements

As provided by Oklahoma state law, in order to be employed as a correctional officer for the Department of Corrections, an individual must meet the following requirements:
All promotions from Corrections Officer into the supervisory ranks are based on tests administered by the Director of the Department, in consultation with the Administrator of the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services's Human Capital Management Division. These tests determine the physical and mental qualifications and all potential test-takers must satisfactorily complete a course of training in operations and procedures related to the rank desired.
In general, the following minimum requirements are needed to obtain the following ranks:
The annual salaries of the ODOC correctional officers are set by the classification standards established by the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services's Human Capital Management Division, the state government's central personnel office. Each classification is assigned by OMES a salary band based upon the uniform Salary Schedule for State Employees. As of 2014, the following classifications for such employees are as follows:
OMES classificationODOC titleSalary bandMinimum salaryMidpoint salaryMaximum salary
Correctional Chief of Security IIIChief - Medium or Maximum SecurityN$43,163$57,550$71,938
Correctional Chief of Security IIChief - Minimum SecurityM$38,885$51,846$64,808
Correctional Chief of Security IChief - Community CorrectionsL$35,032$46,709$58,387
Correctional Security Manager IICaptainL$35,032$46,709$58,387
Correctional Security Manager ILieutenantK$31,848$42,464$53,080
Correctional Security Officer IVSergeantI$26,502$35,336$44,170
Correctional Security Officer IIICorporalH$23,931$31,908$39,885
Correctional Security Officer IIOfficerG$21,756$29,008$36,260
Correctional Security Officer IOfficer CadetF$19,778$26,370$32,963

The executive and administrative staff of the Department are unclassified employees of the State, and as such, their salaries are determined either by the Legislature or by the Director of the Department. As of October, 2010, the following are the annual salaries of the senior staff of the Department:
TitleSalary
Director, Department of Corrections$132,309.00
Associate Director, Field Services$116,256.60
Deputy Director, Institutions Division$103,736.76
Deputy Director, Treatment and Rehabilitation Services Division$99,746.88
Deputy Director, Community Corrections Division$99,746.88
Deputy Director, Female Offenders Division$95,000.00
General Counsel, Department of Corrections$93,999.96
Deputy Director, Community Sentencing Services Division$91,350.00
Deputy Director, Administrative Services Division$66,045.00

Prohibitions

Oklahoma state and United States federal law both place limitations on who can be employed as a correctional officer with the Department. They include any of the following:
The Department of Corrections has annual budget of a little under $500 million. That budget is derived primarily from yearly appropriations, Departmental fees and funds generated by the Prison Industries activities. For Fiscal Year 2014, 88% of the Department's budget comes from yearly appropriations, 6% from the Prison Industries Fund, 4% from the Department's Revolving Fund, and 3% from all other sources.
In late 2017, the department requested more than 1.5 billion dollars, triple its usual budget to make long-delayed improvements.

Death row

The execution chamber is located at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, 17 officers have died in the line of duty.