Perhaps if we spent more on education we could spend less on the DOC.
Oklahoma Board of Corrections to request $1.65 billion
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Board of Corrections has voted to request nearly $1.65 billion for the Department of Corrections next fiscal year — an increase of $1.16 billion over its request for the current year.
The department received just less than $485 million for the current year as the Legislature struggled to fill a $1.3 billion budget hole.
Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh said in a news release Thursday that the “aggressive request” is needed to repair critical problems and invest in the department’s long-term future.
The request includes $10.3 million in salaries that includes pay raises and nearly $849 million for two new medium-security prisons with 2,000 beds each.
Allbaugh says the department has been “largely ignored” for more than 30 years and that Oklahoma taxpayers need to understand “the picture” of state prisons.