The Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ Interim Director spoke to a crowded café in Oklahoma City Tuesday night. Joe Allbaugh addressed challenges in the prison system’s record keeping, inmate population and budget strains.
Allbaugh praised the legislature for allocating nearly $28 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to the Department of Corrections, but he said the agency is still set to see a multi-million dollar deficit by the end of the fiscal year.
Allbaugh also talked about struggles correctional officers face in a system where offenders outnumber prison guards roughly 110 to 1.
“As you can see, the odds are not in your favor,” Allbaugh said.
According to the Department of Corrections, correctional officer staffing remains around 70 percent. The inmate population continues to grow each year, and the current system is over 120 percent capacity.
“It is through the grace of God that the gangs and the prison population allow our men and women (correctional officers) to go home every night,” he said.
During last week’s Board of Corrections meeting, board members indicated they were looking into acquiring additional bed space to accommodate the growing offender population and utilize more efficient facilities.
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During the Oklahoma Watch event, Allbaugh said he was specifically interested in empty prisons in Sayre and Watonga.
“Of the 17 major facilities in the state, only seven of them were ever designed and built as a prison,” Allbaugh said.
Allbaugh lacks direct experience with corrections but insists his tenure as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency serves him well in his current capacity.
Allbaugh says he pursued the interim director position after former direct Robert Patton left because Allbaugh saw an opportunity to get things done within Oklahoma’s criminal justice system.
“What the agency needed at the time was a fresh set of eyes and someone who was willing to not be a caretaker,” he said.
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