OKLAHOMA CITY — Nine lawmakers on Tuesday discussed holding the state budget hostage in an effort to reverse a plan to close 15 prison work centers across the state.
Last Thursday, the Board of Corrections voted to close the centers and move the 1,200 offenders to the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite.
The offenders currently at the prison would be moved to the now-empty North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, which the agency would lease from Corrections Corporation of America.
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The plan is designed to address overcrowding, provide re-entry training and reduce spending.
Lawmakers were upset that they were given little advance notice of the proposal and not consulted on closure of the work centers, which provide cheap inmate labor to cities and towns.
They discussed holding the state budget hostage, seeking a meeting with the governor, attempting to cut the budget of the Department of Corrections, meeting with Department of Corrections Interim Director Joe Allbaugh and issuing a press release. They decided to issue a press release and attempt to meet with Allbaugh.
“We are the ones that hold the purse strings,” said Rep. Bobby Cleveland, R-Slaughterville.
Rep. Jeff Coody, R-Grandfield, suggested the Legislature cut the budget for the Department of Corrections.
“We’ve got the power of the purse,” he said.
Rep. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, said the Oklahoma House could hold the budget hostage with 51 votes.
Murdock said the actions of the Board of Corrections and Allbaugh set a precedent that the agency can “run over us.” He said lawmakers must take a stand.
Rep. Scooter Park, R-Devol, said Allbaugh last week was arrogant when members of the Legislature went to the Board of Corrections meeting to express concerns before the unanimous vote for the proposal.
“He didn’t want to hear from any of us,” Park said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Corrections is operating its prisons at about 122 percent of capacity.
It costs the state $17.6 million a year to provide labor to a small number of communities, said Alex Gerszewski, a DOC spokesman.
“The agency can no longer afford to subsidize these communities and support the inefficient operations of the work centers,” he said.
The agency must find $11 million before the end of the fiscal year to balance the budget, Gerszewski said, adding that it will start next year $38 million in the hole.
“The only way for the agency to stay afloat in times of financial disarray is to consolidate and reduce the footprint it has across the state,” he said. “Further, the practice of turning these men back to society without proper treatment or career programming must end.”
Allbaugh said last week that only 17 percent of the offenders in the work centers have access to programs that help them when they are released. Moving them to a central location would allow them to access more programs, he said.
Gov. Mary Fallin in a statement Tuesday supported the spirit behind Allbaugh’s plan to reduce spending.
“During these difficult times, especially after a midyear revenue failure, I expect agency directors to develop plans and make decisions so their agencies run efficiently and maximize the use of their precious appropriated resources,” she said.
