Oklahoma Corrections Professionals

In a meeting at DOC Headquarters, Director Jones explained to OCP board members and the executive director that the discrepancy between the number of offenders and staff continues to grow larger.  The agency provided the chart below, which shows that in fiscal year 2000, the agency had well over 5000 employees with just over 15,000 offenders in custody.  Today, with just over 4,500 filled positions, DOC is responsible for over 18,000 offenders.  

If those numbers seem to be going in the wrong direction to you, you are not alone!

OCP members are acutely aware of this growing problem because they see it every day when they go to work.  If the State is going to keep sending more and more offenders, DOC staff will do their best to keep the public, the employees, and the offenders safe.  But as the ratio of offenders to staff grows greater, the more difficult that task becomes.  

Recently, David Henneke, Board of Corrections member and Chair of the Board’s Legislative Committee, sent the following letter to the legislature.  The letter was accompanied by the list below of over ten recommended actions the State could take to aid in overcrowding and decrease the future offender population.  If the State would just enact ONE of these options, the agency would be in better shape.  OCP is working to spread the message to our State officials that the agency is at a tipping point.  Either the offender population needs to decrease, or the DOC needs more funding for additional staff.  Either option is fine, but the State must act now!