Sheriffs Gather At Capitol To Talk DOC Budget Cuts

Nearly a dozen county sheriffs will be at the Capitol in response to the Department of Corrections canceling their jail contracts.

The termination of the contracts is a result of budget cuts and will save the DOC an estimated $775,000 by the end of the year. While that's good news for the prison, 10 county departments are coming here to say they depend on that money and simply cannot operate without it.

The department has stopped filling the county jail beds and began the process of moving the 224 inmates out of the county jails and into DOC facilities.

Counties included are: Choctaw, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Jefferson, LeFlore, Nowata, Okmulgee, Roger Mills, and Tillman.

The DOC had contracts with 12 county jails, which housed inmates at $32 per day. The two remaining county jails under contract are Greer and Marshall Counties.

DOC director Joe Allbaugh says the drastic move was necessary in an effort to secure funding and said furloughs were a last resort.