Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh abruptly resigned on Wednesday, during a Board of Corrections meeting. Allbaugh said he is leaving the agency immediately and will officially retire on July 1.
Before he left, Allbaugh wished board members well and recommended they listen to the corrections agency’s staff who he called the hardest working people he knows.
The Tulsa World reports the director also accused the Legislature of treating corrections staff like second class citizens. He asked the board to avoid the same treatment.
Allbaugh has served as Department of Corrections director since 2016.
A spokesperson for the agency says Gov. Kevin Stitt will appoint Scott Crow, the agency’s chief of operations as interim director.
