Senate Approves DOC Minimum Age Requirement

The State Senate on Monday approved legislation that would reduce the minimum age for correctional officers and guards from 21 to 20.

Requested by the Department of Corrections, SB 1468 is intended to broaden the pool of eligible candidates for employment in corrections facilities and assist an agency experiencing a significant labor shortage.

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Lerblance: Add 3,818 State Prison Beds

As prison overcrowding continues to plague the Department of Corrections (DOC), State Senator Richard Lerblance (D-Hartshorne) wants to tackle the issue head on by increasing space at Oklahoma prisons by adding approximately 3,818 beds.

“Government’s greatest moral obligation is to ensure the safety and well-being of its citizens, and that includes making certain we are keeping criminals off the streets,” Lerblance said. “It is simply irresponsible to pass laws that will increase Oklahoma’s prison population and then not fund the bed space to hold these criminals.”

Lerblance said he crafted his legislation to reflect the projected growth in Oklahoma prisons over the next several years, using numbers from the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center.

“These numbers accurately reflect the anticipated growth in Oklahoma prisons and allow the Oklahoma legislature to act responsibly by funding the needs within the Department of Corrections,” Lerblance said. “Creating a safer Oklahoma starts with a responsible approach to public safety policy and that is exactly what this legislation does."

Lerblance explained a $309 million 25-year bond issue would be needed to secure the funding for the additional bed space, with the debt being paid by money appropriated to the Department of Corrections by the Oklahoma Legislature.

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Hearing Examines Sheriffs' DOC Inmate Costs

Oklahoma county sheriffs continue to suffer financial problems because the state has burdened them with paying their criminals' health care costs, and those deficits may ultimately put citizens in danger, House Speaker Pro Tempore Gus Blackwell (pictured) said today.

Huis comments came after an interim study hearing today to look at the state's failure to compensate county sheriffs being forced to pay for Department of Corrections inmates' medical costs.

"We need to do everything possible to ensure we lend a helping hand to the county sheriffs, not a push that puts them in situations they struggle (with) or can't get out of," said Blackwell, R-Goodwell. "This study is a tool for us to see what areas the legislature can start changing to get county sheriffs back on their feet and better yet back on firm financially sound ground."

The biggest issue of the meeting was how county sheriffs' departments are being burdened with DOC's inmates medical costs when the sheriffs are already doing DOC and the state a service by providing inmate lodging.

Garfield County Sheriff Bill Winchester said the inmates are coming in with pre-existing conditions and the counties are stuck with the medical bills. Winchester said that for the past 20 years DOC took care of their inmates' medical costs but now the counties are responsible for everything unless it is considered emergency care. One of the DOC inmates had a $20,000 bill. Winchester said his jail budgets $180,000 for medical treatment of inmates; however, due to the state wanting to house more convicts in his jail, the budget has increased by another $50,000 leaving them financially burdened.

Tulsa County Undersheriff Brian Edwards said it affects bigger cities even more. Edwards said their medical budget has increased by $1 million due to paying DOC inmate medical costs. Edwards said at any given time they have 140 to 300 DOC inmates and are not making 50 cents on the dollar for lodging them. Edwards said there are many factors and costs that go into taking care of a sick inmate. He said inmates have to be accompanied when going to the hospital, which also increases costs because you have to deal with overtime of the deputy. Also, inmates are constantly battling tuberculosis and other illness that are highly contagious that end up costing the counties.

Several sheriffs also said they have to negotiate with judges to keep low-felony charged individuals out of prison because they have no room with all the DOC inmates they are having to house.

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Noted Quote: Prison Crowding Crisis Looms

"We're going to have to close our doors. We're a week away from doing that." ~ Robert Rainey, chairman of the Board of Corrections, pointing out that state prisons are at 98 percent of capacity.

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