ODOC To Vacate Cimarron Correctional Facility Due To Budget Cuts

Oklahoma Department of Corrections plans to vacate the privately owned Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing, Oklahoma, the department said in a news release Thursday.

According to the release, the change is being made in an effort to compensate for a $24.4 million budget decrease for Fiscal Year 2021.

The decision was approved by the Board of Corrections during a special meeting Wednesday.

In a statement ODOC said:

During negotiations with our private vendors, ODOC offered to decrease the number of beds in each of three private facilities by 500. ODOC believes this would have allowed all private facilities to remain operational. Instead, CoreCivic chose to close its 1,650 bed prison. ODOC continues to house inmates at CoreCivic’s Holdenville prison, Davis Correctional Facility.

Vacating the facility means inmates will be moved to other prisons.