Oklahoma Watch (https://oklahomawatch.org/tag/prisons/)
Oklahoma district attorneys have more than $56 million in uncollected fees on their books and are being advised they should hire collection agencies to go after offenders to recover more of the debt. But aggressive collections could collide with criminal justice reform efforts.
Reworked criminal justice reform bills fall short of what a blue-ribbon panel recommended was needed to curb incarceration rates and provide alternatives to prison. But advocates and district attorneys favor the legislation, some of which passed the Senate and some of which passed the House Tuesday.
Inmates in Oklahoma prisons must have advanced liver disease before becoming eligible for treatment that cures hepatitis C, a potentially deadly and growing disease. Since July 1, only five inmates have been given the drug treatment.
With overcrowded and deteriorating prisons and shortages of corrections officers, Oklahoma’s prison system might appear to be primed for a federal takeover. But what are the prospects it will happen?
Oklahoma has among the highest prisoner mortality rates and homicide rates in the nation, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Despite years of concern over Oklahoma’s high rate of female incarceration, the number of women sent to prison jumped again in the latest fiscal year. One dramatic exception: Tulsa County, which sent 24 percent fewer women to state prisons. Oklahoma County sent 33 percent more.
Interim Oklahoma Corrections Department chief Joe Allbaugh faces seemingly intractable problems in the prison system. He has ideas for changes and says he is decisive.