Oklahoma DOC seeks $1.6B as inmate population soars

[Tanuki]

1. Boondoggle for the private prison industry

"Oklahoma began contracting with private prisons in the 1990s. Watkins said Oklahoma had a choice: build more prisons or contract with private prisons.

"The state chose private prisons," Watkins said. "Now, there is no room at the inn if we shut down the private prisons. We do not have a place to put the 5,900 inmates that are currently being housed in private prisons in Oklahoma, as of this morning.
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"In my opinion, private prisons are meant to act as a temporary stopgap for when the prison population surpasses capacity," he said. "However, Oklahoma has become very reliant on private prisons, and those temporary inmates are becoming permanent inmates."

In addition, Steele said private prisons have no incentive to reduce recidivism rates and actually benefit from the state's inmate surplus.

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Steele said Oklahoma has an incarceration rate 78 percent higher than the national average. It also has the highest incarceration rate for women and the third highest incarceration rate for men. Most are non-violent offenders imprisoned for drug-related crimes.

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