Prison Population Highest In State History

Oklahoma's prison population topped 61,000 for the first time in Department of Corrections history. Today’s system wide count is 61,012.

DOC reports 26,619 inmates are being housed in state-run and private prisons or halfway houses. Another are 32,564 being supervised on GPS monitors, community supervision or by probation and parole officers. Just more than 1,829 are in county jail backup. 

Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh says the system is overpopulated and dangerous.

“We are beyond the tipping point,” Allbaugh said. “The staff and the public are at risk every day when we operate at this capacity. We are critically understaffed in facilities that weren’t built to house inmates."

The total cost to Oklahoma taxpayers is estimated around $2 billion. DOC has requested a budget increase of $1 billion for the next fiscal year.