Allbaugh: OK Prisons ‘Not Even In The 20th Century’
Interim Corrections Chief: Parts of Prison System ‘Not Even in the 20th Century’
By Clifton Adcock, Oklahoma Watch
After a little more than a month on the job and touring more than a dozen facilities, Interim Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh said he believes the agency is in a precarious position.
In an interview with Oklahoma Watch, Allbaugh, 62, said Oklahoma’s prison system is dangerously antiquated and changes are needed. Among possible moves: leasing dormant private prisons and closing portions of outdated and dangerous state-run facilities.
A former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and former campaign manager for President George W. Bush, Allbaugh cited an outdated process that has reduced corrections staff to calculating offenders’ early-release credits with a “Big Chief tablet and a calculator.” Many facilities are overcrowded, understaffed and crumbling, he said. Finances are tenuous: Mid-year budget cuts will cost the department around $12 million.