DOC To Stop Sending State Inmates To Oklahoma County Jail

In an effort to avoid overcrowding, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) will stop sending state inmates to the Oklahoma County jail.

It has not been decided where future inmates will go, and current inmates in the Oklahoma County Jail are not affected, according to Terri Watkins of the DOC.

The Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections made the decision after a request by District Attorney David Prater to cancel the county's $2.3 million contract with the state in order to avoid overcrowding.

Canceling the contract requires 30 days' notice. Under the current contract, the state reimburses the county $32 a day for every inmate, up to a maximum of 196 medium-security men.

Right now there are more than 600 state inmates at the 14 county jails, including Oklahoma County.

With county commissioners needing to set the next fiscal year budget, this could have long term budget effects according to our partners at the Journal Record.

A DOC spokesperson says no other counties have requested to cancel their contracts.