prison overcrowding

Expensive Problems Prompt $1 Billion Budget Request From Oklahoma Prisons Agency

By • Oct 31, 2018
Kate Carlton Greer / Oklahoma Public Media Exchange

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is asking lawmakers for $1.57 billion in funding for next year, a budget request anchored by money for new prison beds and medicine for hepatitis C.

The agency’s supervisory board on Oct. 30 unanimously approved the budget request for lawmakers to consider during the 2019 legislative session.

Oklahoma Agency Expands Screening Program To Steer Defendants Away From Prison Time

By • Oct 25, 2018
Quinton Chandler / StateImpact Oklahoma

It’s impossible to predict who will commit a crime in the future, but clinicians at a program funded by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services think it’s possible to make an educated guess at who’s a higher risk. 

The agency is expanding a program officials say helps courts match people with appropriate punishments for their circumstances. Increasing the number of these defendant screenings will connect more Oklahomans with care and assistance, which agency spokesperson Jeff Dismukes said will mean fewer people are sentenced to overcrowded prisons

Can Oklahoma Learn From Louisiana's Criminal Justice Reform?

By • Sep 14, 2018
Quinton Chandler / StateImpact Oklahoma

Every day, Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh sits at his desk and tries to make a severely overcrowded, understaffed prison system work.

“I’ve been preoccupied with trying to figure out where we’re going to put all these people because we’re way over capacity,” Allbaugh said.

Q&A: Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh

By • Jul 3, 2018
Quinton Chandler / StateImpact Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections was a frequent topic for lawmakers during this year’s legislative session. The department was given an additional $8.75 million to balance its books for fiscal year 2018 and more than $517 million for fiscal year 2019 that began July 1. 

Why Oklahoma Has The Highest Incarceration Rate In The U.S.

By • Jul 2, 2018
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Oklahoma has now overtaken Louisiana as the state with the highest incarceration rate in the country, according to data from the Prison Policy Initiative.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson speaks with John Carl, a professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Oklahoma, about how the rate got so high and what kind of overhaul is in motion.

Are Prison Populations Decreasing? Depends On Where You Look

By editor • Jun 14, 2018

The number of people incarcerated in American prisons is the lowest it's been in decades. But a new report from The Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit research group that wants to limit mass incarceration in the United States, tells a more complex story.

Oklahoma Prisons Overflow As Inmates Say 'No' To Parole

By • May 19, 2018
Quinton Chandler / StateImpact Oklahoma

Baby Roman is just waking up from his afternoon nap and now he’s looking for a toy. His grandfather, Frank McCarrell, is trying to distract him from the house’s décor with a bottle of milk.

“He don’t usually be asleep this time,” said McCarrell, who just finished his workday to babysit for his daughter. “When I come home … usually he’s up and raring to go. Huh? You be running Papa around?

Fallin Signs Seven Criminal Justice Reform Bills To Combat Prison Growth

By • Apr 25, 2018
QUINTON CHANDLER/STATEIMPACT OKLAHOMA

Gov. Mary Fallin signed seven criminal justice reform bills this week ending a bumpy ride for legislation designed to curb prison population growth in Oklahoma.

Fallin says the measures represent smart ways to protect public safety, keep families together — and save taxpayer money.

Most of the legislation was introduced in 2017 but stalled in committee. This year, the bills were reconsidered after compromises between legislators, district attorneys and other government agencies.

GPT Ballot Approved, Bonds for New Prisons & Election Security

By & & Rep. Forrest Bennett • Mar 23, 2018

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and sitting in for Ryan Kiesel is Oklahoma City Democratic Representative Forrest Bennett about approval by the State Supreme Court for an initiative petition which if it gets enough signatures and passed by voters would increase gross production taxes to 7% to pay for teacher raises, several proposals get pushed at the State Capitol in an attempt to avoid a teacher walkout & the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee tells the director of the Department of Corrections ther

Fallin and DAs Champion Criminal Justice Legislation, But Reform Advocates Ask What The Bills Do

By • Mar 6, 2018
Quinton Chandler / StateImpact Oklahoma

Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday announced a compromise between district attorneys and Republican lawmakers on six bills they say will reduce Oklahoma’s prison population while maintaining public safety.

One criminal justice reform advocacy group is criticizing the timing of the announcement because the bills’ language still hasn’t been made public.

 

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