HELENA – Today, at the monthly Oklahoma Board of Corrections meeting, board members approved a $1.648 billion budget request and a list of legislative priorities for the upcoming legislative session that begins in February 2017.
In the agency’s 14-point, 23 page budget request, it addresses salary increases for staff, new money to offset overtime costs that will accrue from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, facility critical infrastructure needs and money to build two, 2,000 bed medium security prisons, among other items.
For the agency’s total approved budget request, click here.
Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh said the aggressive request will put the agency in line to fix critical existing problems and will invest in the long-term future of the department.
“Since coming to the department 10 months ago, I have found the agency has been largely ignored for more than 30 years,” Allbaugh said. “It is time for the Oklahoma taxpayers to fully understand the picture of our state’s correctional department, get more efficiency out of the system and bring the department into this century.
“We have employees who haven’t seen any new money in more than 10 years, some even qualifying for food stamps, crumbling infrastructure and an inmate capacity in excess of 110 percent. We need change immediately before something bad happens.”
The budget request is a $1.165 billion increase from the agency’s FY ’17 request, something Corrections Board Chairman Michael Roach says is a starting point for the agency.
“Working in law enforcement throughout my career, I have seen what agencies need to succeed and what makes them fail,” Roach said. “This department, which plays a major role in public safety, has been severely underfunded and is in dire need of new money to fix critical issues.
“It’s time to fund this agency appropriately.”
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