Keaton Ross

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections might soon have a long-forbidden security tool at its disposal.

A June 30 FCC order cleared the way for phone call rates, and commission payments to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, to increase.

State officials envision drones, call monitoring and AI technologies as the future of Oklahoma prisons, but advocates worry the tools create risks that extend beyond incarceration.

As federal spending on immigrant enforcement and detention soars, a private prison company is advertising detention officer positions at vacant prisons in Watonga and Sayre.

The backlog at county jails has increased 74% since 2021.

Oklahoma lobbyists spent more than $220,000 on food and beverages for lawmakers during the 2025 legislative session.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections will spend about $74 million over two years to outsource its food service operations to the Trinity Services Group, a Florida-based company that feeds more than 300,000 prisoners and pretrial detainees daily.