After years of decline, Oklahoma prison population on the rise; advocates point out overcrowding issues
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The Oklahoma prison population is growing, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Justice. It shows Oklahoma is one of the leading states in the country with the highest imprisonment rates.
After years of a decline, the number of people locked up is on the rise. With nearly 2,300 people currently behind bars, Oklahoma is the fourth in the nation following Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Data from the U.S. Department of Justice report shows Oklahoma is sitting well above the national average. In just one year—from 2021 to 2022—Oklahoma saw a 2.3 percent rise. Oklahoma prison advocates told KFOR, overcrowding is an issue.
“It’s a serious issue. And the only way to fix it is we need to change our laws. We need to stop locking people up and give them excessive sentencing or wrongful convictions. And our parole board needs to be rebuilt. We need to start releasing people. I mean, that is what’s going to stop it,” said Emily Shelton, founder and Executive Director of Hooked on Justice.
The latest data from the U.S. Department of Justice shows just over one percent of men living in Oklahoma are serving sentences of more than one year in a state prison, along with Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Emily Shelton’s husband James is one of them serving time for robbery.
She said his cell is often crowded.
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“They give them a mat, if they even get a mat, and they just throw them on the floor,” said Shelton.
Darrell Wiggins just finished a 35-year sentence for first degree murder and is now on parole.
Being in several prisons across the state, he says the overcrowding issue can lead to dangerous situations, adding there’s not enough staff to meet the demand.
“The overcrowding problem only exacerbates the gang situation… We get away with all kinds of things because they’re understaffed.,” said Darrell Wiggins, former Oklahoma inmate.
Representative J.J. Humphrey blames the state for not doing enough to reduce crime.
“We can do that by investing in county jails, regional jails. We can do that by investing in real supervision, real drug testing, real accountability, stopping them from repeat crimes, continuing repeat crimes, stopping them in substance abuse and criminal behavior,” said Representative J.J. Humphrey, R-Lane.
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Humphrey also said counties need more funding and resources to be able to handle the overcrowding issue.
“We haven’t funded our sheriffs and our counties to be able to handle the jails and crimes,” said Humphrey.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections sent KFOR the following statement:
On average, 110 people enter and exit the Oklahoma Dept. of Corrections weekly. The agency uses every bed within our prisons as efficiently as possible, allowing inmates to begin receiving needed services, such as health care, mental health care, education, substance abuse treatment, and reentry programs, as soon as possible.
We also work diligently to recruit and retain employees. Along with shifting our marketing strategy to reach more potential candidates, we centralized most of our hiring processing to reduce the time it takes to onboard people, reevaluated and raised salaries in critical areas, and continuously use data to drive culture change. We also now offer a CLEET academy for new and current officers, improved correctional leadership development and a variety of incentives, including tuition reimbursement.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections
Governor Stitt’s Office also added Oklahoma has come a long way despite these numbers. Oklahoma used to be #1 in the nation for per capita incarceration in 2016. Now the state is #4, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s report.
The Governor’s Office included the following information:
Oklahoma’s incarceration rate has been down since 2019. The 2022 numbers show the state is down 20%.
A spokesperson for the Governor’s Office told KFOR:
When Governor Stitt took office in 2019, Oklahoma was ranked 50th out of 50 for number of people incarcerated. He knew there was something wrong with that, so he set to work to figure out what the disconnect was, and since then, has implemented policies that have made a huge difference. We are now ranked 40th out 50. Sure, that’s not top 10 yet, nor is it above average, but that’s a big jump for a pretty short time frame. Another huge accomplishment – we are ranked #2 in lowest recidivism rate, that’s people going back to prison.
Office of Governor J. Kevin Stitt
The Governor’s Office also provided the following information regarding measures set out by the Governor:
-Sarah Stitt Act: Ensures that inmates leaving prison have a REAL ID upon leaving prison and provides access to education and job training while inmates are serving time.
– Job programs: Businesses in Oklahoma have partnered with Department of Corrections to provide on the job training for inmates and a pathway to employment when they are released.
– MODERN Justice Task Force: There is still work to be done. This task force will continue to look into the systems we have in place and what can be updated.
– Drug court programs: More people than ever are eligible for a highly structured, court supervised drug rehabilitation program.
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