The 20th Century

History Preface


The state of Oklahoma has been incarcerating inmates and supervising offenders prior to
statehood. As is often the case in a large organization or agency, staff get caught up in
their daily activities, and fail to document the history of the agency. Such is the case of the
Oklahoma Department of Corrections. As the end of the 20th century neared, some agency
officials determined that the department should make an attempt to document the history
of the agency. This proved to be a difficult task as there was virtually no official documented
history. Much of the accepted history has been passed along from staff and citizens and
may or may not be entirely accurate. Each facility was asked to submit information and
pertinent historical information. Several staff have reviewed this data and corrected as
best they could.

The historical information following is not absolute but is generally accepted as accurate.
There were many contributors, thus, writing styles vary. The various contributors also
results in the historical flow being fragmented. Hopefully you will find the history of the
agency interesting. This history attempts to cover the agency from “the beginning” through
the year 2000.

© Copyright December 13, 2002, Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

 

Oklahoma Department of Corrections:

The 20th Century


Chapter I: The Beginning (OSP, OSR—Until 1967) ....................................1
Chapter II: Corrections Act.....................................................................10
Chapter III: Growth (Mid 70s; master plan; 1977-1978 Construction).........13
Chapter IV: Probation and Parole ...........................................................25
Chapter V: Prison Growth ......................................................................34
Chapter VI: Disturbances (OSP, DCCC, MACC, OSR) .................................71
Potpourri ..............................................................................................82




CHAPTER I: THE BEGINNING

The Advent of Oklahoma’s Prison System

Prior to 1908 Oklahoma was sending prisoners to Kansas Penitentiary
at Lansing, Kansas. As commissioner of Charities and Corrections,
Ms. Kate Barnard had received numerous complaints about the
mistreatment of Oklahoma inmates in the Kansas Penitentiary. She
arrived unannounced in August 1908 and toured the institution. After
the tour, she identified herself and requested that she be allowed to
conduct a thorough inspection. During her inspection, Barnard found
systematic torture of inmates by the use of “crib” and the “waterhose.”
On her return to Oklahoma, she wrote a report about the conditions in
the Kansas Penitentiary and recommended that all Oklahoma prisoners
be transferred back to Oklahoma. Kansas rejected Barnard’s report,
but overwhelming evidence came to light from prisoners and ex-
prisoners in support of Barnard’s report. As a result, the first contingent
of 50 inmates was placed on a train and moved to McAlester, Oklahoma,
on October 14, 1908, within two months of Ms. Barnard’s visit to Kansas.

What kind of prison should Oklahoma have? This question continued
to arise. What was Ms. Barnard’s definition of a good prison? “The best
prison is the one which turns out the largest percentage of prisoners
who never return to a life of crime.”

She added that the mission of prison should be character building of
inmates who would not seek revenge. She wanted Oklahoma State
Penitentiary to be designed after the federal penitentiary, in
Leavenworth, Kansas, based on humane standards of confinement.

By early January 1909, there were 155 inmates at the facility in
McAlester. There were still over 562 including juveniles under 16 years
of age, at Lansing, and the contract with Lansing was expiring by the
end of January 1909. Governor Haskell pursued legislative funding for
the permanent construction of the penitentiary.

Earlier, the first legislature of Oklahoma had enacted a law for the
establishment of a state penitentiary and had also provided an
appropriation of $50,000 to cover the cost of returning over 575
Oklahoma convicts to the state. The citizens of McAlester had also
donated 120 acres of land for the prison. The first two groups of 50
prisoners each received from Lansing were temporarily housed in the
former federal jail at McAlester. Under the direction of the new warden,
Robert W. Dick, these inmates built a temporary stockade to house
themselves.


Construction of the penitentiary began in May of 1909 under the direction
of Warden Robert W. Dick. Oklahoma, unlike other states which
contracted with private firms for the construction of their prisons, used
inmate-labor under the direction of state officials. The Oklahoma
penitentiary followed the Auburn (New York) model separating the
factory area from the associated cell blocks. The construction started
with a massive wall, built of concrete and steel. The building of the
prison required a stupendous effort, and the builders of the prison took
pride in claiming that the prison would be second only to the State
Capitol.

The original 120 acres of land for the penitentiary site had been donated
by a group of people from McAlester. The state bought additional
acreage until it had acquired approximately 2,000 acres upon which to
build. This land was hilly and had many sloping grades, gullies, and
ravines. This rugged landscape required massive amounts of land fill.
At some points along the wall the concrete piles go as deep as 35 feet
below the grade to the foundation. More than 6,357 cubic yards of
concrete were used, and over two million cubic yards of dirt and rock
were moved for the wall alone at a total cost of $108,644. The state
literally moved mountains to build its prison.

The state also moved 200 families who had built small homes on the
land surrounding the initial 120 acres.

1909 Temporary Inmate Housing at OSP
Female prisoners were also sent to Leavenworth, Kansas, during the
territorial days. The first female ward at McAlester was built near the
east gate around 1911. It was later condemned and torn down. From
1905 to 1908, 60 boys had been sent to Lansing
Penitentiary, and many of these were under 16 years
of age. The presence of these offenders prompted
Kate Barnard to make a case for a state reformatory.

Within a year after the beginning of the construction
on the penitentiary, reformers began to lobby for a
state reformatory. Kate Barnard, commissioner of
Charities and Corrections, led the fight and articulated the need for
such an institution in her annual reports to the Governor and legislature.

After an initial rejection, the proposed reformatory became a political
issue. Sam Flourney, the first warden of the reformatory, in his letter
dated December 12, 1909, complained to Governor Haskell that
southwestern Oklahoma was being discriminated against for not getting
a reformatory and requested an appropriation of $100,000.

The Oklahoma State Reformatory was legislated in March 1909. The
temporary quarters (built south of ‘wildcat’ mountain) were completed,
and the first 60 inmates were received from the Oklahoma State
Penitentiary on April 22,1910. Two hundred more prisoners were
transferred on March 18, 1911, of which 100 were assigned to public
roadwork in Caddo County. Clyde A. Reed was appointed warden on
September 12, 1910. Construction of the main facility began in 1911
and was completed in 1914. The temporary quarters were destroyed
by fire that same year. The reformatory was completed during the tenure
of Governor Lee Cruce (19111915).
The newly appointed Warden Clyde A. Reed demanded
additional funds for a school and vocational training equipment.

Money was found for both institutions and by the end of 1914,
most of the permanent structure had been completed, and 150
inmates were transferred from McAlester to the reformatory, at
Granite. Having completed the reformatory, Kate Barnard, an
unforgettable reformer, removed herself from the active scene.

Kate Barnard was succeeded by
William D. Mathews (1914-22).


Governor Williams clearly wanted to use the reformatory as a second
penitentiary. He wanted the warden to be a businessman. Making use
of the state-owned mountain of granite and the reformatory’s captive
labor pool, he negotiated a contract with a Rock Island Railroad
Company. The railroad exchanged a small rock crusher (capability of
80 yards a day) for “over 1,200 carloads of rough rock for its track
beds. With this contract, the Governor claimed, “Now the reformatory
is self-sustaining.” Superintendent Boon Williams reported on three
years of achievement from September 1, 1915, to September 1, 1918,
claiming enlargement and improvement in prison gin machine, dairy
barn, and power house machinery. He also reported the building of a
20,000 bushel grainery, east cell (two-thirds completed), and broom
factory. To assist the government in its aid to World War I, the institution
supplied building materials to the Aviation Field at Fort Sill. In the area
of rehabilitation, it was reported that 75 to 80 percent of the inmates
released from the institution have not returned to criminal life (the annual
reports often recognized their reformation role).


The next few years were fortunate for the reformatory
as it moved closer to its reformative ideal. Governor
James B. Robertson (1919-23) made a consistent and
honest effort to run the institution as a reformatory.
He appointed Warden Dr. George A. Waters who was
a highly respected and successful farmer and dentist.
Waters immediately made plans to travel east to study
modern methods of organizing and conducting
reformatory work. He sent a requisition to the Board of Public Affairs
for 500 books for a nucleus for the general library. He also initiated a
public call for book donations from charitable organizations.

Mabel Bassett replaced William Mathews as commissioner of Charities
and Corrections, and she remained in that position for 24 years from
1922 to 1946.

Dr. George Waters was reappointed as warden and resumed office in
1924. On resumption of office, Dr. George Waters found that many
programs he had instituted had been eliminated. In December 1925,
there were 591 inmates, all usefully occupied in tannery, carpentry,
blacksmithing, stone masonry, tailoring, cooking, baking, tinning, and
plumbing. Despite all of his achievements, he was modest in his claims.
Talking about the farm, he reported in his annual report, “The produce
is not as good as I would have liked it to be, but it represents our very
best effort.” Warden J. J. Savage, in his Annual Report of the Oklahoma
State Reformatory (OSR), reported a population of 606 prisoners on
December 13, 1926, and proudly claimed that all of them were working
(no idleness). Many of them were learning a trade (bakery, cooking,
plumbing, cleaners, and stone masonry), going to school for half a day,
and working for the other half of the day. Warden Savage recommended
the introduction of an adequate wage system and wanted to transform
the institution into a REAL REFORMATORY. He also recommended
the establishment of a parole board with the head of each penal
institution as one of the members on the board. In 1927, Mrs. George A.
Waters (Clara) became the warden and carried on the work of her
husband. She focused mainly on educational and religious programs
for prisoners. In order to employ all prisoners, she leased several
hundred acres of land (OSR already had 1400 acres of land in 1927).
At the end of 1928, OSR’s population was 782 (an increase of 176
prisoners in one year), constituted of mostly property offenders with 61
fowl thieves. There were four deaths in 1928, two of which were caused
by accidents at the rock crusher. Clara Waters, often distinguished as
the first and the only female warden of a large state reformatory for
males proved herself as very popular both locally and nationally. She
was elected to the board of directors of the National Prison Organization.
Mrs. Waters was considered one of the most convincing women
speakers in the country.

Prison breaks, prison riots, and prison protests are often characterized
by their suddenness, unpredictability, and unexpected course of
developments. All of the above was true of the prison break at Granite
which occurred on February 17,1935, soon after Sunday lunch. As many
as 31 inmates made a bid for this daring escape. However, eight of
them surrendered in the front yard of the institution after being peppered
with a blast of small shot from a shotgun in the hands of the Deputy
Warden M. T. Gallion. Two returned voluntarily, and 18 were at large
until the following day.

Fred Hunt
Warden at OSP
The inmates conspiring to break had, somehow, managed to smuggle two guns which they used
to threaten Officer Tom Denton, asking him to unlock the prison doors. They later shot Peter
Jones, the correctional officer on the front tower. Gathering a number of women and children
visitors in front of them, the inmates rushed down the front steps. Piling in two cars in front of the
institution, 20 of the men fled east. Later, they confiscated other cars and continued their flight.

Warden Waters was fired two days later and Sheriff Fred Hunt was appointed as the new
warden.

Commissioner Buck Cook reported the population of the two institutions
jointly as 2,365 in 1948 and 2,461 in 1949. Commissioner Cook spoke
appreciatively of the two wardens. In 1949 at OSP, school was taught
from first through eighth grade. He talked about the classification unit
which was manned by 15 inmates and three civilians, who took complete
history of new prisoners under the supervision of a superintendent.

Wardens at Oklahoma State Penitentiary

1908 - 1916 R. W. “Bob” Dick
1916 - 1920 Samuel Mobley
1920 - 1924 Fred C. Switzer
1924 - 1927 William S. Key
1927 - 1931 John Q. Newell
1931 - 1931 Sam Brown
1931 - 1935 Roy Kenny
1935 - 1941 Jess Dunn
1941 - 1943 Fred Hunt
1943 - 1947 R. D. Conner
1947 - 1951 Clarence Burford
1951 - 1955 Jerome Waters
1955 - 1959 Howard McLeod
1959 - 1963 Robert Rains
1963 - 1971 Ray Page
1971 - 1973 Park Anderson
1973 - 1978 Richard Crisp
1978 - 1980 Norman Hess
1980 - 1983 A. L. Murphy
1983 - 1985 John Brown
1985 - 1987 Gary Maynard
1987 - 1991 James Saffle
1991 - 1994 Dan Reynolds
1994 - 1998 Ron Ward
1998 - Gary Gibson

Wardens at Oklahoma State Reformatory

1909 - 1911 Samuel H. Flourney
1911 - 1912 Clyde A. Reed
1915 - 1919 Boone Williams
1919 - 1920 John A. Phillips
1920 - 1923 George A. Waters
1926 - 1927 J. J. Savage
1927 - 1935 Clara Waters
1935 - 1941 Fred Hunt
1941 - 1943 Edward P. O’Brien


1943 - 1945 Claude F. Moore
1949 - 1969 Joe Harp
1969 - 1975 John Grider
1975 - 1984 Jerry Sunderland
1984 - 1988 David C. Miller
1988 - 1993 Steve Hargett
1993 - 1995 Jack G. Cowley
1995 - 1998 Ken A. Klingler
1998 - 2000 L. L. Young
2000 - present Brent Fatkin

The commissioner of Charities and Corrections made some necessary
mid-century recommendations to the 23rd Legislature in early 1950.

. We recommend that all penal institutions, reform schools, and
training schools in the state be removed from politics.

. We recommend that a director be appointed over all of the
foregoing institutions and that he have sole responsibility to
prescribe certain rules and regulations in said institutions; that
he will select the wardens and superintendents, and they will be
answerable to him alone for the management of said institutions.

. That said director shall have had at least four years experience
in penal institution supervision.

. That all guards at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester,
be required to attend a training school comparable to the
Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and that they attend a refresher
course of one week each year thereafter. It is further
recommended that all guards be placed on a merit system.

. That all guards at the Oklahoma State Reformatory no longer
be referred to as guards, but shall be designated as supervisors;
and that no supervisors shall be employed who have less than a
high school education.

. We recommend the following types of legislation:

•
Legislation creating the indeterminate sentence
•
Legislation creating a system of adult probation


Although these recommendations were modest in nature, it would take
two to four decades for these recommendations to become a reality.


Because of several negative reports about Oklahoma’s prisons in 1957,
the legislature went outside the political arena and contracted with the
Oklahoma Citizens Committee on Delinquency and Crime. This was
the first time in Oklahoma’s history that a citizens’
organization had an opportunity to influence public
policy on crime. The Citizens’ Committee hired a
number of consultants and presented its first report in
September 1958. The Citizens’ Committee observed

that in 1957 there were only two adult probation officers in the entire
state of Oklahoma and more than two and a quarter million people.
The effect of the inadequate use of probation was that “almost 60 percent
of the men and women received sentences of two years or less.” Most
of these prisoners were eligible for probation. The Citizens Committee
made several recommendations, a few are given below:

Probation

. A statewide adult probation system should be established,
preferably as a part of the Department of Corrections.

. The initial goal for probation should be the employment of 35
probation officers, five supervisors, and a director.

. Qualifications for professional staff should be established
according to the standards published by the National Probation
and Parole Association.

. Staff should be selected through a merit or civil service system
(eliminating political patronage).

Adult Institutions

. Adult correctional system should be centrally administered (the
committee stopped short of recommending the establishment of
the Department of Corrections).

. The functions of the institutions should be divided into three
divisions each supervised by a deputy warden: a) custody and
security, b) classification and treatment, and c) business and
procedures.

. Idleness should be eliminated.

. Sale of goods manufactured in prison should be eliminated.

. A central file system should be created.

A statewide adult probation system
should be established, preferably
as a part of the Department of
Corrections.

. Gambling by inmates should be eliminated at McAlester
(apparently, this was a disturbing problem for many, because
several reports talked about it).

. Each institution should set up a full time in-service training
program.


CHAPTER II: CORRECTIONS ACT

January 10, 1967, is an important day in corrections history. It was on
this date that Governor Dewey Bartlett made a historic announcement
in his Legislative address, when he said:

I have had prepared for introduction, today, a bill creating a new
Department of Corrections. This bill has been prepared, after
consultation with leaders of both Houses of the
Legislature. It is a joint recommendation of your
leadership and the administration. Briefly, this bill
provides for the creation of a new state Corrections
Department, consisting of a state Board of Corrections,
and state director of Corrections, and three divisions:
a Division of Institutions, a Division of Probation and
Parole, and a Division of Inspection. The Division of
Inspection will perform duties of the present Charities and Corrections
Department.

Let us recall that the Oklahoma Citizen Committee on Delinquency
and Crime had recommended in 1962 the creation of a Department of
Corrections. It, however, took several years for the recommendation to
be implemented. During Governor J. Howard Edmonson’s administration
(1959-1963), the House and Senate drafted bills, but they were never
enacted. The legislature, once again, neglected to address the needs
of the penal system. Governor Henry Bellmon (1963-1967) then
commissioned National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) to
study the system and make recommendations. NCCD investigation
found that the Board of Public Affairs, which administered the penal
system, concentrated primarily on the business aspects of the prison


system and ignored the larger problems of corrections . Two priorities
existed in Oklahoma corrections, according to NCCD: OSP and OSR
should cease to operate independently of one another; and the Board
of Public Affairs should separate itself from the control of the penal
system.

On May 8,1967, under the leadership of newly elected Governor Dewey
Bartlett (1967-1971), the legislature passed the Oklahoma Corrections
Act of 1967. House Bill 566 created the seven-member Board of
Corrections, with one member from each of the state’s congressional
districts and a seventh member appointed at large.

Arnold E. Pontesso (1967-1970) Pontesso was appointed the first
director of the new Department of Corrections on October 16,1967.
The 52 year old Pontesso was a 28-year veteran of the federal prison
system, and retired as warden of El Reno Federal Reformatory just
prior to beginning his job as director of Oklahoma corrections. He
pledged to follow the guidelines advocated by the NCCD.

He requested funding from Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
(LEAA) in the U.S. Department of Justice. Perhaps, the hallmark of his
administration was the establishment of the first community treatment
center (CTC) at the Thunderbird Motel in Oklahoma City. The experience
with this center popularized the movement for CTCs, and as a result,
the state developed eight other such community treatment centers in
different cities over the next four to five years.

The Division of Probation and Parole set up five district offices at
Oklahoma City, Tulsa, McAlester, Duncan, and Arnett.

To prepare the inmates for the community, the corrections department
introduced the following trades: auto-body repair, masonry, carpentry,
refrigeration and air conditioning, dry cleaning, welding, meat cutting,
electrical, plumbing, auto mechanics, drafting, and cooking and bakery.
The per capita cost of an inmate during 1968 was $147.97 per month.
In 1969, the cost to keep one man for one day in OSP was $3.26; for
OSR $5.35 and for supervision under probation and parole $26 per
month.

The hallmark of his administration
was the establishment of the first
community treatment center (CTC)
at the Thunderbird Motel in
Oklahoma City. Pontesso proved much too progressive for his time in
Oklahoma, and he was forced to resign in 1970. He
was replaced by Leo McCracken who worked as acting
director for 18 months, a position which he held until
after the riot in 1973.


Leo McCracken in his Annual Report of 1972, addressed to Governor
David Hall and the legislators, reported the continuance of the following
LEAA sponsored research project:

Improved and expanded probation and parole services. The goals of
this project were:

•
to reduce the average caseload to 90 per officer
•
to expand the use of pre-sentence investigation, and
•
to encourage the expanded use of probation as an alternative to
prison or jail commitment


Special Community Supervision Project (July 1969 to June 1972). This
project evaluated the effects of intensive supervision.

In May of 1971, a building situated about a mile from OSP and used as
the pre-release center was converted into a second women’s ward to
alleviate a serious overcrowding problem. In the same year, Lexington
Correctional Center was added to the list of facilities. Lexington facility
used to be an annex to the Navy Base in Norman which was later
vacated by the Navy.


CHAPTER III: GROWTH

David Boren was a college teacher before becoming a Governor, and

F. Warren Benton, Ph.D., was the project director for developing the
Oklahoma Corrections Master Plan. This master plan was developed
by the National Clearinghouse for Criminal Justice Planning and
Architecture, Department of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, Illinois. The central theme of the master plan was that the
offenders be kept closer to their home community where the local
resources could be effectively harnessed for rehabilitation of correctional
clients. The plan made the following recommendations:

. Regionalization

Oklahoma be subdivided, into nine community service districts, which
would be further combined to form five institution
regions. Each community service district represents
a combination of several judicial districts. Because
implementation of a progressive correctional system
depends to a large extent upon cooperation between
the judiciary and the Department of Corrections, the
coordination of the regional organization of both bodies
is of vital importance.

. Changes in Disposition Patterns

With modest reductions in commitment and length of sentence,
Oklahoma’s incarcerated population could be reduced by a third.

. Changes in Programs and Services

Changes were proposed in the area of planning, implementation,
coordination, and continuous evaluation of both institutional and
community programs.

On August 20,1975, the board hired the 26 year old Ned Benton to
implement his master plan. His master plan was well spoken of. He
had been brought to Oklahoma primarily to implement the master plan
and to build three new prisons which were completed during his tenure.
Under Benton’s leadership, three institutions were built—Lexington
Assessment and Reception Center, Joseph Harp Correctional Center,
and Dick Conner Correctional Center—and had them open in a short
time of four years. Joe Harp was completed in 1978 and Conner
Correctional Center at Hominy was completed in 1979. A substantial
savings was effected in the construction costs by utilizing inmate labor.
These institutions cost around $13 million each. Benton took the
department from a budget of $18 million to $52 million in less than four
years.

For over a century, the courts never interfered in the management of
the prisons in the United States. After the passage of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, inmates in Oklahoma and all over the country began filing
complaints. In fact, the 1970s brought several prisoners’ civil rights
issues to the forefront not only in the United States, but also in Europe.
In Oklahoma, a Black inmate named William Robert Eugene Battle,
better known as Bobby Battle, filed a federal lawsuit (Battle v. Anderson)
on April 24,1972, in the U.S. District Court in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
The suit alleged the following civil rights violations:

“... deprivation of the right to due process and equal protection
of the laws, to free speech, to petition for the redress of
grievances, to have access to the courts, and to be free from
cruel and unusual punishments”

In mid-March 1974, the above complaint was further expanded by the
following allegations:

•
There was racial segregation and discrimination in inmate
housing, job assignments, and employment practices in
Oklahoma prison system, and specifically at Oklahoma State
Penitentiary.
•
Inmates were denied the right of due process when assigned to
disciplinary cells. Further, inmates were confined in dark,
unventilated, and unsanitary cells for prolonged periods.
•
The penitentiary officials randomly used tear gas and mace as a
cruel and unusual punishment rather than as a control device.
•
Medical care was inadequate and did not meet the needs of the
inmates.
•
The practice of censoring inmates’ incoming and outgoing mail
was a violation of inmates’ civil rights.
•
The inmates were denied the freedom of religion, especially those
of the Muslim faith, who were denied the right to gather for
corporate religious service.



Judge Bohanon found that all of these allegations were correct and
these conditions, indeed, did exist before the riot of 1973. The judge
subsequently ordered remedial action for each of the allegations.
Bohanon ordered that the racial composition of all housing units should
approximate that of the inmate population as a whole. He also ordered
that attorneys fashion and submit to the court, within 60 days, a detailed
and comprehensive disciplinary system. Concerning the use of the tear
gas and mace, the judge set stringent guidelines for their use. He
ordered the Department of Corrections to formulate a comprehensive
plan to provide adequate routine and emergency medical care (including
psychiatric care) for all inmates. The department was further ordered
to devise a plan within 60 days which would provide for religious
counseling and group services for all inmates, regardless of religious
belief.

Judge Bohanon was very firm and persistent that the court’s orders be
fully complied with, and he kept requiring the defendants to appear in
court every six months to report compliance. Yet, the judge was
sympathetic to the defendants, he being fully cognizant of the
administration’s problems. In hearings held on May 4, 1976, and
October 15, 1976, the plaintiff and plaintiff intervenors presented
evidence about the problem of prison overcrowding. Judge Bohanon
indicated that population levels and conditions were intolerable and
that he would consider issuing an injunction against the state if the
population problems and the related conditions were not addressed.

Prison overcrowding remained impervious to any easy solution. It kept
raising its ugly head from time to time in Judge Bohanon’s court. In
April, 1977, the Plaintiff-intervenor (U.S. Department of Justice)
requested an evidentiary hearing regarding overcrowding and conditions
of confinement. The court held the hearing on May
23-24, 1977, and the resulting court order came to be
known as Battle II. After hearing several expert
witnesses, the judge observed that a large percentage
of prisoners (about 34 percent) were idle, with neither
jobs nor programs to fill their time. The judge further required that each
prisoner should have 60 square feet of cell space or 75 square feet of
dorm space. On March 7, 1977, out of 4,440 inmates in residence in
Oklahoma prisons, one-fourth were housed in below 20 square feet,
and another 10 percent were confined in areas ranging from 20 to 39
square feet. The court ordered the state to reduce at the rate of 100
inmates per month at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and 50 inmates
per month at Oklahoma State Reformatory until the population came
down to 800 and 450 inmates respectively.

On May 27, 1976, Governor David Boren announced an accelerated
prison construction program promising to provide 1,450 new spaces
by August 1978. The administration also liberalized parole, releasing
eligible inmates after they had undergone one-fourth of their sentences,
rather than one-third of their sentences. The court ordered the state to
reduce all housing to one man to a cell by April 1, 1979, in OSP and
OSR. Boren secured $3 million from the Law Enforcement Association,
U.S. Department of Justice, matching it with $4 million
of state funds to build a new Assessment and
Reception Center at Lexington, Oklahoma. The
construction of the Lexington Assessment and
Reception Center was completed in December, 1977.


On February 15, 1978, the reception process was transferred from
McAlester to its new modern housing. The assessment procedures
were greatly expanded and updated. In order to secure all kinds of
inmates under assessment, LARC provided tri-level security units-
maximum, medium, and minimum security units.

Satisfied with the efforts of the administration, Judge Bohanon agreed
to permit double celling at the four prisons on January 27, 1982, if all
other conditions within the institution were adequate to meet inmates’
needs. This lawsuit had gone on for over ten years, and it was not until
December 7, 1983, that Judge Bohanon announced that he was
stepping out of the case.

Toward the middle of the 1970s, there was an increasing emphasis on
the training of staff. The necessary incentive came from Law
Enforcement Educational Program (LEEP) and the funds were provided
by this federal program. A private agency known as Professional Agency
for Correctional Training (PACT) on funding from LEEP assumed
responsibility for training correctional officials at lower and mid-
management levels. PACT hired both full-time and part-time instructors
to instruct in their areas of specialization. PACT served for over a year.
Later, the Department of Corrections assumed the responsibility of
training and established a training academy to house 56 trainees at
one time.

A great recognition came to Oklahoma Department of Corrections from
the American Correctional Association (ACA) when its Commission on
Accreditation, after a professional audit, accredited the agency and all
of its facilities and probation and parole divisions.

The Construction and Maintenance Unit was formed in 1974 and initially
was part of the Technical Services Unit.

When the unit was started in 1974, the major function was renovation
and maintenance of the department’s main offices in Oklahoma City
and the operation of inmate training in architectural drafting. In addition,
this unit coordinated maintenance and renovation.

In 1975, the name was changed to the Architecture and Engineering
Unit. This unit assumed the responsibility for the development and
implementation of all construction and maintenance programs for the
Department of Corrections.

The first administrator of the unit was Mr. Carl Perkins. Upon his
retirement in 1979, Mr. Vernon Davis became the administrator until he
was transferred to the Office of Public Affairs in December 1985. Mr.
Tom Wright was administrator of the unit until fall 1987 when he took a
job with a private company to supervise prison construction. Mr. John
Kanoski assumed the position of administrator of Construction and
Maintenance in December 1987. He was followed by Al Milligan. The
unit was disbanded and reorganized in late 1990s.

This agency-wide appropriation allowed the Department of
Corrections to prepare a central budget for the entire agency.
After the establishment of the Department of Corrections, each institution
continued to receive its own appropriation and prepare its own budget work
program until 1980. Although there was a small central
accounting unit at the Department of Corrections that
helped process bills for the field units, central accounting exercised
little control over field financial operations.

In 1980, the legislature gave the Department of Corrections a single
agency appropriation. This agency-wide appropriation allowed the
Department of Corrections to prepare a central budget for the entire
agency. In 1976, a restitution accounting unit was created pursuant to
a new law that transferred responsibility from the counties to the
Department of Corrections for the receipt of money from probation
clients.

The Human Resources Unit was initially created as a central “personnel”
office in February 1974 when Gary A. Parsons was hired to serve as
the personnel manager for the department. Before that date, central
office staff were minimal and personnel duties were carried out as an
adjunct responsibility of the administrative assistant to the director.

Initially, Mr. Parsons and one secretary handled personnel activities.
As the agency continued to grow and expand, payroll activities were
transferred to the Personnel Unit with a resultant increase in staff
members to four. The unit used the services of CETA employees and
female inmates from the Women’s Treatment Facility to perform clerical
work.

In 1974, there were 21 black employees in corrections among a total of
approximately 1,200 employees. As a result, affirmative action
responsibilities were added to the Personnel Unit in 1975 through receipt
of a federal grant. Salary programs were implemented during this period
because of legislation that mandated a salary increase for correctional
officers. The increase in salaries was later extended to employees in
other job classifications. The first Employee Handbook was printed
and issued in 1976. In 1977, female correctional officers were employed
to work in male institutions.

In February 1980, Max Worrell was hired as the departmental personnel
manager. By this time, the central personnel office had grown to a
staff size of 13 employees. For an approximate period of four years
during 1980-1984, the Personnel Unit coordinated the centralized hiring
of all correctional officers.

The use of automation to process information for the Department of
Corrections began in 1972. The first application was a simple listing of
inmates. The agency used a keypunch machine to create data on
punched cards and sent the information to an outside service to process
the data and produce the report.

The Department of Corrections began in-house data processing with
approval to acquire computers in May 1976. Two Data General
computers were eventually obtained to set up the first automated
Inmate/Client Systems in August 1977.

In 1982, the IBM 4300 computer was purchased to meet the needs of
new reporting requirements for restitution accounting. This was followed
by development of the Financial Management System in 1984 and
1985.

The first attorney for the Department of Corrections was Betsy Pain
who worked until approximately 1979. The Department of Corrections
hired Ray McGeorge in 1981. In 1982, a Legal Division was officially
created by enactment of 57 O.S. Section 508.1 that became effective
March 25, 1982. Ms. Jo Glenn was the attorney for a short time and
was replaced by Mr. Michael Pybas. Mr. Pybas resigned in January
1984 and was replaced by Don G. Pope in September 1984. Vincent
Knight became the general counsel after Don Pope.

Legal History

Richard W. Kirby, General Counsel.............................3/00 to Present
Vincent L. Knight, General Counsel .......................... 1992 to 12/99
Don Pope, General Counsel ................................... 1984 to 1992
Michael Avant-Pybas, General Counsel ........................ 1982 to 1984
Jo Glenn, General Counsel ................................... 1982
Ray McGeorge, General Counsel ............................... 1981 to 1982
Betsy Pain, General Counsel ................................. 1979 to 1981


In July 1972, the Planning and Research Unit was implemented with a
federal grant from the LEAA. In 1972, all operating grants had to be
studied and evaluated in terms of their operational management
offenders. The Planning and Research Unit was involved in the
preparation of federal subgrant applications followed by the evaluation
of programs funded by subgrants awarded to the Department. Between
1972 and 1976, the Planning and Research Unit applied for and received
a total of $9,410,415 in discretionary and action grant funding.

The director of the newly created Department of Corrections, Arnold E.
Pontesso, signed the first policy statement on December 4, 1967. This
policy statement 1001.1, entitled, “Policy Statements and Operations
Memoranda,” established the process for the development of
procedures. Under the direction of Dr. Kiehlbauch, administrative
assistant, a system of numbering and the index was created. The
system was similar to the Federal Bureau of Prisons manual format.
From 1968 to 1974, relatively little was done in the development of
written procedures.

The first specific reference to the Division of Programs
and Services can be found in OP-010101, entitled
“Organization of Administrative Staff,” dated
September 18, 1980. John Rees was the first deputy
director of Programs and Services. In March 1981,
Tom White was appointed deputy director.

In November 1984, Tom White left the position of deputy director of
Programs and Services to assume the position of warden at Ouachita
Correctional Center. R. Michael Cody became deputy director in
November 1984. After Mike Cody, Jerry Johnson served as deputy
director of Programs and Services. Kathy Waters followed Jerry
Johnson and in 1997 the unit dissolved with the various duties and
functions absorbed by other units.

Central Classification moved from Oklahoma State Penitentiary to
Oklahoma City in 1974 and John Rees was the administrator. At that
time, inmates were still received at Oklahoma State Penitentiary and a
committee met there every Tuesday to classify new receptions. The
committee took into consideration age of the offender, time served, the
crime committed, prior incarcerations, history of violence and escapes.
Those under 25 went to Oklahoma State Reformatory. First term nonviolent
offenders under 25 went to a community treatment center or to
Ouachita Correctional Center for vo-tech training.

Central Classification moved to Lexington Assessment and Reception
Center in 1978 with Mike Fairless as administrator. All receptions and
initial classifications were processed there. Initial classification was
based on the previous considerations; however, additional concerns
such as inmate needs and bed spaces were taken into consideration.

Mike Parsons became the administrator in 1979 and Steve Kaiser
assumed this position in 1980. Mary Livers became the administrator
in 1985 and remained until November 1987. In January 1988, Arnold
Wagoner assumed the position of administrator of Classification
Programs.

Prior to the time that the Central Records Unit was created in 1975, all
records were kept at Oklahoma State Penitentiary. When Central
Records was created, Mike Fairless was the administrator and a
duplicate record system was maintained at the central office.

In 1976, the “Time Credit Law” was revised. Before 1976, release
dates were calculated upon reception, a release date was established
subject to change due to loss of credits. Beginning in 1976, because of
the law change, a new consolidated record card was created. The
credits were posted on a monthly basis, release dates were calculated
monthly at the confining facility, and inmates were informed of their
release date on a monthly basis.

Joy Hadwiger became administrator in 1978. The first records manual,
known as the Records Manager Resource Manual, was distributed in
1979. Although it was not official policy and procedure, it did serve as
a reference guide. In addition, in 1979, the position of records auditor
was established.

The first official public information officer for the Oklahoma Department
of Corrections was Howard Inglish. He held the position from May 1
through August 29, 1974. Bill George followed from July 1, 1975,
thorough June 30, 1977. Nancy Nunnally was the next person to hold
the position and served in that capacity from July 25, 1977 through
October 17, 1982. Joyce Jackson became public information officer
on November 19, 1982. She continued in that role until February of
1985 when public information duties were separated from public
relations responsibilities and Martin Ewing performed the duties of public
information officer. On July 1, 1987, Jerry Massie became public
information officer.

In November of 1976, Tom Lovelace was appointed chief of security
for the Department of Corrections. At that time, he had two correctional
officers who worked directly for him. Their duties included security of
the administration building, writing operations memoranda, inspecting
facilities, escape team, escape desk, and assisting at Oklahoma
Memorial Hospital and Central State Hospital when necessary. In
addition, Mr. Lovelace was the supervisor of the two hospital units.

In 1980, the Internal Affairs Unit was added to the Security Unit, to
include three investigators. Tom Lovelace was followed by Elvin Baum
then Eric Franklin.

Community Corrections in Oklahoma began in 1970 as a “spin off” of a
pre-release center operated within Oklahoma State Penitentiary. The
original facility opened in Oklahoma City and provided employment
services and counseling for some 15 residents.

Training for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections had been in
transition since its inception in 1974. The need for a formal training
program was apparent after the riot in 1973 and the subsequent
involvement of the federal court. Prior to this time, training had been
handled informally by various Department of Corrections personnel. In
1974, training was imparted by the Professional Agency for Correctional
Training, this agency was funded by a federal grant.

In 1976, the first “Training Academy” was established at the former
Sun Tide Inn in Oklahoma City. This site witnessed the beginnings of a
training program designed to meet the needs of an agency of 1,379
employees.

The Department of Corrections moved the training academy in 1980 to
the grounds of the Jess Dunn Correctional Center, at Taft, Oklahoma,
a former juvenile treatment center of the Department of Human Services.
The academy remained there until July 1, 1986, when it moved to the
former Oklahoma Children’s Center, also located in Taft, Oklahoma.

The academy was re-structured in 1989 and became the Dr. Eddie
Warrior Correctional Center for female offenders. During 1989 the
agency established the Employee Development and Training Center
on the campus of Oklahoma State University and the Gene Stipe
Correctional Training Academy on the campus of Eastern State College
in Wilburton, Oklahoma.

The department began utilizing the concept of full-time facility training
officers during 1986.

Training has continued to develop since its inception, thereby reflecting
the unique ability of each training director and the needs of the agency
at that time. Training directors for the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections have been Warren Rawles, Cherry Scott, Joe Wheeler,
Joy Hadwiger, Linda Green, Michael D. Parsons, Ph.D., Grayson
Dawson, and Ms. Penny Frazier. During organizational times when
the agency did not have a training director or administrator, the oversight
of training was assigned to Deputy Directors Jerry Johnson and J’me
Overstreet, and Debbie Boyer, Administrator of Human Resources,
respectively.

During FY 83, James Crabtree Correctional Center was opened to serve
mentally retarded offenders with a capacity of 100 inmates. The program
was specifically designed to help these offenders adjust to incarceration
and learn living skills necessary to successfully return to society.
Construction of new housing units and renovation of existing buildings
was planned to prepare the facility to eventually house 300 to 350
medium-security inmates.

While cost-efficient measures like the Nonviolent Intermediate Offender
Act, the 120-day Judicial Review, and “CAP” legislation all helped to
reduce Oklahoma’s prison population, the number still shot up to 6,658
inmates on July 1, 1985, excluding the inmates under the House Arrest
Program. Since the inception of the Department of Corrections in 1967,
the prison population has been rapidly increasing except for a small
temporary dip in mid-1970s. The increase in population was particularly
spectacular in the 1980s.

One of the most significant events of the year 1985 was the expansion
of House Arrest Program as authorized by a new law (SB 65). The
candidates for House Arrest were required to meet the following
conditions to be eligible for the program:

. Only those inmates who were incarcerated for a nonviolent crime
and were within six months of their projected release date could
apply.

. No inmate could be placed on house arrest who had been denied
parole by the Pardon and Parole Board within the last six months.

. An inmate was required to have served at least 15 percent of
the sentence of incarceration.

The case manager developed a program plan for each inmate on house
arrest. Included in the plan were items such as: counseling, education,
payments of court costs, victim compensation assessment fees, and/
or restitution, curfews, substance abuse surveillance, and payment of
program support fees amounting to $45 per month.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections began a victim/offender
mediation program in 1985. In some cases, victims participated in the
hearings. The mediation facilitator, after input from an initial interview
with the victim, determined whether any given case is appropriate for
such a hearing. The most common cases handled were larceny related
crimes although violent acts were also the subject of some mediation
hearings.

During the 1980s, Oklahoma remained consistently among the top 20
states in the nation in terms of incarceration rate. In 1981, the
incarceration rate in Oklahoma was 129 inmates per 100,000 population,
which ranked Oklahoma 16th in the country. The incarceration rate
nearly doubled in Oklahoma between 1981 and 1986. In 1986, the
incarceration rate in Oklahoma had increased to 255 inmates per
100,000 population, which placed Oklahoma tenth among the 50 states
and District of Columbia. By the end of November 1986, the incarceration
rate in Oklahoma had continued to increase, to over 290 inmates per
100,000 population. Regionally, Oklahoma and Texas were the leaders
in terms of incarceration. Among Oklahoma and its six contiguous states,
Texas ranked first and Oklahoma second from 1981 through 1985.
However, in 1986, Oklahoma surpassed Texas, and had the highest
incarceration rate in the region. The incarceration rate in Oklahoma
increased every year from 1978 to 1986 despite downward fluctuations
in crime rates during some of these years.

According to FY 87 Annual Report, the upsurge in crime during the
1980s in Oklahoma was primarily in the nonviolent crime categories.
The nonviolent offenders accounted for an increasing percentage of a
new commitments; from 69 percent of commitments in 1981 to over 78
percent in 1987. Within the nonviolent offense category, the increase
was almost entirely a result of increases in two offense types, drug
offenses and DUI offenses. The number of commitments increased
from 4.8 percent to 14.1 percent between 1981 and 1987.


CHAPTER IV: PROBATION AND PAROLE

Prior to the Corrections Act of 1967, only parole services were offered
on a statewide basis under the direction of the commissioner of Charities
and Corrections. Officers were located at the State Capitol. With the
passage of the Corrections Act of 1967, the parole officers became a
part of the newly established Department of Corrections. The first
Oklahoma City area probation and parole officers
were located downstairs beneath the Department of Corrections headquarters i
n the Plaza Court Building at Northwest 11th and Walker.

By 1969, when probation and parole services were relocated with the
Department of Corrections to Northeast 4th and Walnut, the number of
officers for Oklahoma City had grown to 10 (of 28 statewide). The first
female officer was also hired. In 1971, Oklahoma County probation
and parole services moved to Thunderbird (now Oklahoma City
Community Corrections Center) along with Department of Corrections
administration.

Services were significantly expanded in 1974 as part of a federal grant
from which 100 new officers were hired statewide. These new officers
were subject to new requirements, including a college degree, which
changed the staff from mostly male, retired military or law enforcement,
to a more varied group with many recent college graduates. Notable
increases in minority representation of both women and blacks followed
these changing requirements.

In 1975, the first classification system which involved a three member
committee was implemented.

In 1976, probation and parole services were combined into two district
offices in the Oklahoma City area. The career positions of senior
probation and parole officers were added- to the district structure.
Restitution joined probation fees as areas of district responsibility.

In 1977, a new classification system based on a modification of the
Wisconsin Risk-Needs system was implemented.

In 1981, the Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC) Program
was merged with existing services of the department, but maintained a
status separate from district field operations. In August of 1981,
probation and parole field services was awarded accreditation by the
Commission on Accreditation in Corrections.

W. J. “Tex” Bynum was the first deputy director. Tex was the state’s
pardon and parole officer prior to July of 1967 and was retained until
early 1969. He divided the state into districts based on county
boundaries.

The second deputy director, Earl Clayton Grandstaff, a former prison
chaplain from the Texas system brought organized training into the
system. He conducted the first formal training for Probation and Parole
staff in the Kellog Center located on the O.U. Campus. It was after his
training that the old PACT school came on board.

The third deputy director, Dr. John Kielbauch, started serving in 1969
and served to 1971. He was a quiet, well-educated man who
commanded respect and admiration from the staff. He was very
supportive of training and it continued with an added philosophy of
service. He demanded honesty and fair-play both with staff and offender.
“Dr. John,” as he was referred to, added another layer of dignity and
integrity to this division.

The fourth deputy director, C. E. “Chuck” Williams, who started as deputy
director in 1972, was a retired Highway Patrol Trooper who reemphasized
the importance of the law enforcement aspect, coupled
with service delivery. Chuck was very active in
obtaining federal grant money for the establishment
of a training academy. It was during his administration
that sub-offices began to spring up. One hundred new probation officers
were added to implement the pre-sentence investigation legislation in
1974.

The fifth deputy director, Earl C. Brewer, was excellent at internal and
external politics in obtaining things for this division. His administration
was responsible for the first Probation and Parole Officer’s Manual.
Also under Brewer’s direction, preparation for ACA accreditation was
started and the state-wide audit system for measuring accountability
was implemented. By assignment of Earl Brewer, W.A. Watkins was
given the task of the first state-wide audit. Watkins, with the assistance
of Sam Issacs, wrote the policy and procedures manual in addition to
auditing for the first time, the central office, including Interstate Compact.
Shortly thereafter, David Collins became the first audit coordinator.

This administration was operating under the “Master Plan,” and it was
at this time that senior probation officers came on board as team leaders.
Each district had two assistant district supervisors, one for office
management and the other for field services. The career ladder in
probation and parole was established.

The sixth deputy director, Jeannie Johnson, continued the policies of
Earl Brewer with ACA readiness as a primary focus. Computerization
was implemented with forms and procedures being changed to
accommodate a computer system. She had a very short tenure.

R. Michael Cody was the seventh deputy director. During his
administration, unit and district budgets became a reality along with
the division receiving its first ACA accreditation. Mr. Cody was also
credited for establishing district training coordinators.

The eighth deputy director, Linda Green, held one of the shortest terms.
Her administration was marked by an emphasis in local procedures.

The ninth deputy director, Lester Leroy Young, was the first black deputy
director in the Department of Corrections. One of the things Leroy will
be remembered for is his establishment of a career ladder for probation
and parole. With his help, probation officers no longer had to change
jobs and become supervisors in order to upgrade their positions.

Justin Jones became the tenth deputy director on May 18, 1987. The
third ACA accreditation occurred during Justin’s first month in office. In
addition, the allocation of 75 additional divisional FTE was accomplished.
Pro-active planning concerning audits, equipment
purchasing, personal computer usage and budgeting
was implemented. Full-time training officers were
added to each district. Upgrading and expansion of
office space was an ongoing priority in this administration. Mr. Jones’
administration recreated the Interstate Compact Office and the Executive
Parole Revocation position. Mr. Jones was known for spending a great
deal of time visiting staff in the field. The Division dissolved during
1991 under regionalization only to be reformed in 1996 with Kathy
Waters serving as deputy director.

District I came into existence on March 1, 1978, when the entire Division
of Probation and Parole underwent a major reorganization. The basic
premises were to place district offices in cities where community
treatment centers were located, and to keep judicial districts intact, if
possible. Muskogee, therefore, was selected as the site for the district
office.

The first district supervisor in District I was Kenneth L. Haile. Early in
1981, Ken Haile left District I. On April 1, 1981, John Middleton was
named District I’s second district supervisor. Rita Andrews was
appointed as district supervisor in 1990 and was followed by Stormy
Wilson, who holds that position today.

Venture back to the 1950s, to a time prior to the establishment of the
Division of Probation and Parole to a time we will call the “old system.”
The Tulsa area probation staff was headed by Chancy Lacy. Another
interesting occurrence during the “old system” was the fact that the
probation staff supervised only probationers and no parolees. Mr. Lacy
was followed by Gilbert Pinkerton, who later became a Wagoner County
commissioner. The “old system” regime ended in the late sixties with
Sterling Acton at the helm in Tulsa.

In 1968, the Oklahoma State Legislature provided for the creation of
the Division of Probation and Parole. In District II, J. R. Porter was the
first district supervisor, serving from 1968 to 1971. In 1971, Earl Brewer
became the second district supervisor and Dayton Wagoner became
the first official assistant in District II. Staff size in 1971 was 10 officers
with an average caseload of 50. Clerical staff consisted of three. The
emphasis of Probation and Parole was truly on field contacts. For
example, some requirements were: the officers were required to spend
80 percent of their time out of the office and to see 80 to 95 percent of
their caseload each month in the field because of the level I and II field
contact requirements. In 1973, the district supervisor position changed
hands again to Dayton Wagoner, who served in that capacity until
January, 1980. In January, 1982, Edward Evans became district
supervisor and remained until September 1, 1987 when he assumed
the position of deputy warden at Ouachita Correctional Center.

District III, Probation and Parole was created July 1, 1967, having been
fathered by the Oklahoma Corrections Act of 1967. The district
supervisor, James Eliott, was the only employee in the district until
August 14, 1967, at which time W. A. Watkins reported for duty as a
probation and parole officer. In January 1968, Art Hamilton was named
district supervisor, and the first district office, consisting of two rooms,
was opened on the third floor of the Pittsburg County Courthouse. Art
retired from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, December 31, 1967, where
he was the founding father of the Airplane Division which he headed
until retirement. Art picked up where Eliott left off in the area of marketing
the services provided by the Division of Probation and Parole. The
Corrections Act authorized the supervision of probation cases which
was the first for the state of Oklahoma. Art was a very structured person,
and relied heavily on written procedures. This coupled with the problems
of rapid growth, prompted Art to volunteer the privilege of drafting the
first Probation and Parole Operations Manual. The manual consisted
of the duties and responsibilities of the central office, district office, and
field staff. Art retired as district supervisor in October 1978. W. A.
Watkins replaced Art Hamilton as district supervisor in 1978. Watkins
had gone to District V as district supervisor from December 1977 to
October 1978. Watkins remained in the capacity of district supervisor
of District III until his retirement at the end of 1987. In January of 1988,
Ron Hartwick was named district supervisor. He had been with the
department since 1974, and served it well in the capacity of probation
and parole officer, sr. probation and parole officer, and Intensive Services
coordinator.

In January 1988 Ron Hartwick was named District Supervisor. Mr.
Hartwick had been with the department since 1974 and served as a
probation and parole officer and Intensive Services Coordinator. Prior
to starting with the District III, Mr. Hartwick was assigned to the Planning
and Research Unit. Upon the change to regionalization the district was
renamed to Southeast Region Probation and Parole. Mr. Hartwick
remained in the capacity of District Supervisor until February 1996.
When the Division of Probation and Parole was reestablished the district
again picked up the old title of District III. Michael Dunkle was appointed
as District Supervisor.

As part of the Corrections Act of 1967, the Division of Probation and
Parole began conducting community supervision of persons on parole
and probation. The state was divided into several Districts, and Bill
Thomson became the first district supervisor of District IV. Probation
and Parole Officers were Jack Tillick, Max A. Anderson, Kenneth
Zachary, John Collier, Carl Neuenschwander, Les Auston, and Colonel
Hoopert. Each officer received a new 1967 Plymouth. The officers
worked out of their vehicles and were assigned to the office one day a
week. Donna Purdue and Mildred Wilson were the first clerks of
District IV. Clerical personnel, at that time, maintained field files by
filing monthly reports. The officers did not maintain
written chronological records on clients. Officers,
during this era, were responsible for seeing clients in
the field, and, as a part of their equipment, were issued
tape recorders. These were used by the officers to record all client
contacts: field, office, and collateral, and were later transcribed by Ms.
Wilson and Ms. Purdue and filed in each offender file. These were all
reviewed by the district supervisor, which was a part of the accountability
during that time. Another method to ensure that offenders were seen
monthly was a checklist with each officer’s name with a listing of each
client. Clerical personnel would check off the receipt of the monthly
report and contacts from the taped chronologicals that they had typed
prior to filing these items in the case files. This accountability procedure
was used in lieu of the audits of modern day Probation and Parole. Bill
Thomson was responsible for establishing the first administrative
caseload in probation and parole. This caseload was first managed by
Nancy Bennett as a probation and parole officer aide. This position
was possible through a federally funded program. It was a cross between
an officer and a clerical position. In approximately 1973, H. D. (Jelly)
Morgan came to be the second district supervisor of District IV. It was
during this time that the “Weekly Activity Report” came into the lives of
probation and parole officers. It was met with resistance and dislike.
This form of employee accountability required all officers to keep an
account of each minute of their day including each client seen, amount
of time spent with each client, amount of time spent in travel status, as
well as any other activity involving the officer’s time. This was
discontinued in the Spring of 1979. Mr. Morgan left in 1975, and Max

A. Anderson, who had been the assistant district supervisor since 1973,
became the third district supervisor. At that time, each district was
designated to have two assistant supervisors. Carl Neuenschwander
was the assistant supervisor for the Eastern Half of the district, and
Judy Reed had the Western half. Judy went on to become the first
female district supervisor in the state. In 1977, she left District IV to
assume supervisor duties in Oklahoma City, and later became an
administrative assistant in the Probation and Parole Central Office. Bill
McCollum came to be the fourth district supervisor in June or July,
1981. He had been the Interstate Compact administrator, and brought
with him a great deal of knowledge. It was during this time that the role
and function of the Division of Probation and Parole expanded. We
saw the addition of the Treatment Alternatives to Street Crimes Unit
and the Intensive Services Unit to complement traditional Probation
and Parole functions. Leroy Young began his tenure as the fifth district
supervisor in January, 1985. Leroy was no stranger to District IV, as
he began his Department of Corrections career as a probation and
parole officer in 1974 in Lawton. In July, 1986, Robert F. Dibble, Jr.,
was chosen to become the sixth district supervisor of District IV. On
February 19, 1988, Senior Probation and Parole Officer Conrad J. “Jack”
Tillick, Jr., celebrated his 20th anniversary with the Oklahoma
Department of Corrections, District IV Probation and Parole. Jack was
the first employee of the Department to serve 20 years within the Division
of Probation and Parole. Wayne Smith was appointed as district supervisor in
1990.


District V was created in 1971, with Calvin Vincent as district supervisor.
Calvin was one of the original probation and parole officers, and he
earned $250 a month with a $150 travel allowance. The district office
was in Arnett. Some of the staff members during this time were Jim
Morgan, Gene Harmon, Otto Rauh, and Richard Carmichael. The first
female probation and parole officer to be hired was Debbie Kretchmar.
Debbie later became an assistant supervisor. In 1975, the district had
17 staff members. In 1976, Gene Harmon was the assistant district
supervisor. During this same year the position of Probation and Parole
Officer II was implemented. The first Black probation and parole officer
to be hired was Alvin Nixon. In 1977, the district office moved to Enid.
Pay was $805 a month for a probation officer. Willie Watkins became
the acting district supervisor, and probation and parole officers were
allowed to have field manuals for the first time. In 1978, Richard
Carmichael became the third district supervisor. In 1986 after John
Middleton became the acting district supervisor, Richard Carmichael
retired. During that same year David Hargrove became the district
supervisor, and Greg Williams the assistant supervisor.

District V

Supervisors since David Hargrove are as follows:
Kathy Waters
Pat Lindley
Mike Carr

District VI

Sharon Neumann was District VI Supervisor from April 1980 to January
1986 when District VI was located at 4030 N. Lincoln in 1980. District
VI ADS’s were Rick Earley, Clint Johnson, Jerry Massie and Frank
Hudson. District VI was responsible for Canadian, Oklahoma, Cleveland,
Garvin and McClain counties. Marta Ahhaitty was Ms. Neumann’s
secretary during that time. State vehicles were very limited at that
time.

District VI “split” in 1986 and District VI was relocated to SW 44th and S.
May where Ms. Neumann was supervisor until 1993. District VII was a
product of the split and was located at 4545 N. Lincoln.

Treatment Alternative for Street Crime (TASC) was initiated from 1984 to 1987.
During Ms. Neumann’s tenure, the Department became involved
in ACA and the District was first accredited. It was also during Ms.
Neumann’s service with District VI that the department purchased the
majority of state-owned firearms. Prior to this time, officers had to
purchase their own.

District VII

In 1986, when District VI and District VII split, Justin Jones became
District VII Supervisor until approximately August 1987. Russ Buchner
then became District VII Supervisor until January 1990. House Arrest
was utilized during this time.

Peggy Carter was appointed as District VII Supervisor from 1990 to
1993. At this time, District VII had five teams. One team, under the
supervision of Team Supervisor Ron Lock, had specialized caseload
of Parolees.

Dan Reed and Rick Earley were ADS for Ms. Carter. House Arrest had
been replaced with PPCS/SSP.

Ms. Carter left District VII in June 1993 when she was appointed as
Affirmative Action Officer with the Legal Division of DOC, located at
DOC Administration Offices at 3400 Martin Luther King Blvd.

In 1993, Kenny Holloway was appointed District Supervisor for Central
Region Probation and until March 1997. Central Region was the result
of combining District VI and District VII, sub-offices District VII East,
located in Midwest City, District VII Metro, located downtown OKC,
Norman, Purcell and Pauls Valley.

In March 1997, Central Region Probation and Parole ended with District
VI and District VII splitting once more. Mr. Holloway assumed the
responsibility of District VII Probation and Parole/Community
Corrections. The district included the probation and parole office located
at 4545 N. Lincoln and Kate Barnard CCC. In November 1997, his
responsibilities included Oklahoma City CCC. In July 1999, Mr. Holloway
accepted a position with the Division of Probation and Parole/Community
Corrections as Population Coordinator.

July 1999, Philip Brandon was appointed as Acting District Supervisor
of District VII Probation and Parole/Community Corrections. He was
confirmed in March 2000 as District VII Supervisor.

During the same timeframe, March 1997, Marc Norvell assumed
responsibility of District VI that included District VI South May and
Oklahoma City CCC.

NOTE: Millicent Newton-Embry was appointed District VIII Supervisor
that included District VIII Probation and Parole Office located at 2915
N. Lincoln and Clara Waters CCC. Drug Court began during this
timeframe and the Weed and Seed with the Federal Government began
within this time period also.

District VIII became District VI North (2915 N. Lincoln) and District VI
South (4512 S. May), and Clara Waters CCC. This occurred on or
about March 1, 1999.


CHAPTER V: PRISON GROWTH

A new facility for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to be named
“Hominy Medium Security” was proposed in the late 1970s. This name
was changed to the Jess Dunn Correctional Center in honor of a prison
warden a short time later. In February of 1977, a joint Senate-House
Resolution renamed the facility for a third time to reflect the heritage of
Osage County. The proposal filed by Senator John Dahl and
Representative Bill Kennedy proposed the changed to R.B. “Dick”
Conner Correctional Center. A former Osage County sheriff and
Oklahoma State Penitentiary warden, R.B. “Dick” Conner still has
relatives who live in the area today. The facility was built for $12.8
million. Dick Conner Correctional Center received its first inmates in
August, 1979, and reached its original design capacity of 400 during
the spring of 1980. James Kyker, the first warden of the facility, was
replaced by L.T. Brown. Brown had served as deputy warden at Dick
Conner since its opening, and brought with him 15 years of correctional
experience from the Kentucky Department of Corrections. Warden
Brown served at Dick Conner until June of 1982. In August, 1982, Tim
West, former deputy warden at Oklahoma State Penitentiary, was
appointed as warden at Dick Conner. In late December of 1984, Warden
John Makowski came to Dick Conner from a deputy wardenship in
Michigan. Warden Makowski guided Dick Conner through the
completion of its reconstruction phase and returned to Michigan in
February, 1986. On August 29, 1983, inmates at Dick Conner created
a disturbance which ultimately caused approximately five million dollars
damage to the facility. The reconstruction of the facility took
approximately 18 months to accomplish. Under the leadership of
Warden Tom White, Dick Conner moved to the
forefront of correctional institutions throughout the
United States. After assuming the warden’s post in
May of 1986, Warden White directed his staff in
modernizing and defining the institution’s post orders
and inmate rules, implemented a prescriptive staff
development program, and took decisive measures
to ensure the quality of life, safety and security of those who lived and
worked at Dick Conner. In 1986 the facility had 17 escapes. Following
this large number of escapes, high-tech security upgrades in addition
to intensive security training and procedural measures were enhanced.
These changes made a significant improvement in the security of the
facility. Ron Champion became warden at Dick Conner in October of
1987. He came to Dick Conner from Howard McLeod Correctional
Center at Atoka where he served as warden. Warden Champion spent
12 years at Conner prior to his retirement in 1999.

The Howard McLeod Correctional Center was named after Howard C.
McLeod, who was warden at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in
McAlester from 1955 to 1959. During his tenure as warden, Howard
McLeod developed a great concern for creating worthwhile work
programs for inmates. The Howard McLeod Correctional Center is a
minimum security institution located approximately thirty miles east of
Atoka, Oklahoma. Construction of the institution began in November,
1961 and was completed a year later. The facility was
constructed by inmates from Stringtown Correctional
Center, who were supervised by Stringtown Vo-Tech
instructors. The center is a 5,000 acre site. Howard
McLeod Correctional Center was under the direction
of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary until July, 1973. Wardens have
included: Hayden D. McCasland, July, 1973-October, 1975; Charlie D.
Carter, October, 1975-September, 1981; Ronald J. Champion,
September, 1981-October, 1987; and Earl O. Allen.

Frank Rember, 02/01/91—10/31/91

Frank Rember became interim warden at Howard McLeod Correctional
Center February 1, 1991. He was the Chief of Security at HMCC prior
to becoming interim warden. Warden Rember was appointed to this
position to fill a vacancy that was created due to Operation Desert
Storm. Warden Saffle was activated causing a vacancy at the
penitentiary. Warden Reynolds was appointed temporary warden at
Oklahoma State Penitentiary, and Earl Allen was appointed temporary
warden at Mack Alford Correctional Center leaving Howard McLeod
Correctional Center with the vacancy.

During his tenure, the institution was involved in a major construction
phase, building a new kitchen, starting a new fire station, and planning
a new vo-tech complex. Warden Rember continued the construction
and saw the kitchen completed in June, the fire station was 90 percent
completed during this time, and the vo-tech complex revised and
approved with construction to start November 15, 1991. The Idabel
Work Center was also opened March 29, 1991.

James L. Moon, 11/01/91—09/11/92

James Moon began his career with the Department of Corrections as a
correctional officer in 1978. He served as correctional case manager,
administrative officer, unit manager, and deputy warden of Operations
before being appointed warden. The fire station was completed and
dedicated during his tenure.

Ronnie J. Ward, 09/16/92—10/31/94

Ronnie J. Ward began his career with the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections in 1980 as a correctional officer and worked his way up
from there. The 32,400 square foot vo-tech skill center was completed
and dedicated during his tenure. At that time, it housed the heavy
equipment operator school, heavy-equipment diesel-mechanic school,
automotive service, and welding school. The armory and new central
control was also completed during Mr. Ward’s tenure.

Denise L. Spears, 01/01/95—07/31/97

The new visiting building was completed and dedicated to the memory
of Gary T. Nanny on October 9, 1996. The water tower was completed.

Frank Rember, 08/01/97—10/31/97 (Interim Warden)

Marty Sirmons, 11/01/97—Present

During 1997, the sewer lagoon was completed. During 1998, the facility
security status was changed to high-minimum and the work programs
were expanded. The chief of Security Crew was created and the garden
program was started with labor provided by this crew. This garden is
now producing over 400,000 pounds of vegetables per year and these
vegetables are shipped to institutions around the state. The new
administration building was completed in November 1998.

The new farm office building was completed in September 1999. During
2000, a toxics and caustics storage building was started and the deputy
warden’s residence was renovated. During 2001, video monitors were
installed in the dorms and kitchen, fire sprinklers are being installed in
the dorms, and emergency generators have been installed. Plans for
the construction of a new 42-bed segregated housing unit have been
approved with construction scheduled to begin in early 2002.

In 1978, a name change was implemented by the Oklahoma State
Legislature, from McLeod Honor Farm to Howard McLeod Correctional
Center. The building now known as west dorm was built from Oklahoma
State Penitentiary brick and lumber saw milled from trees harvested
from state land. Howard McLeod Correctional Center is the only
correctional center in Oklahoma that has ever utilized a sawmill to
produce lumber. In 1994, while training HMCC’s tracking dogs, CO IV
Bobby Cross found an extremely large bone north of the facility on
state property that had been uncovered by rain. The bone was sent to
the University of Oklahoma and was determined to be a dinosaur bone.
Paleontologists from the university were sent to HMCC and have
discovered 14 individual dinosaur skeletons of four different dinosaur
species to include Tenontosaurus, Deinonychus, Acrocanthosauris, and
Sauroposeidon which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records
as the tallest land dwelling dinosaur. Also, found while digging dinosaur
bones was a small mouse size mammal from the same era that was
named Paracimexomys-crossi after CO IV Bobby Cross. The skeletons
from the mammals and dinosaurs found on HMCC’s land are displayed
in the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman.

The Jackie Brannon Correctional Center was officially established as a
minimum security institution July 1, 1985. The center, which was
formerly known as the trusty unit of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary,
was originally opened in 1927. The facility is located in McAlester,
Oklahoma. The Jackie Brannon Correctional Center has 142
employees. The reason for the separation of the Jackie Brannon
Correctional Center from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary as a trusty
unit was based on the number of inmates assigned to the unit. At one
time, there were over 400 inmates living in the dormitories. In order to
properly supervise, control, and manage this many inmates, good
management called for the establishment of a separate administrative
facility. The structure known as “Building One” was constructed in 19261927
for female prisoners. Females had previously been housed on
the top floor of the west cellhouse at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary
and later in an old stone warehouse located about one half mile east of
the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Female prisoners remained at
“Building One” until 1975, when they were moved to a building located
on the far west side of the prison property, known as “Building Three.”
In 1983, all female prisoners were relocated to the Mabel Bassett
Correctional Center in Oklahoma City and in September of 1984,
“Building Three” was lost due to a fire. The Jackie Brannon Correctional
Center was named after Jackie Brannon, who served as deputy warden
of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary from July 1, 1981, until his death in
1984. He started in corrections August 7, 1961. Over the years, his
career in corrections expanded from Correctional Officer I to the position
of deputy associate warden in November, 1982. Jackie Brannon died
of cancer April 2, 1984. The Jackie Brannon Correctional Center
maintains the only cemetery within the Department of Corrections that
is used to inter deceased inmates whose remains are unclaimed by
next of kin. Available records indicate that the first burial took place in
1913. As far as can be determined, the cemetery currently contains
619 graves, including three infants born to female prisoners. In recent
years, burials have averaged ten to twelve a year. The graves were at
one time apparently marked with a wooden stake identifying the
deceased. Over time, the stakes were moved or destroyed by the
elements. As a result, 192 graves cannot be identified. These graves
are now marked with a red granite marble stone with only the word
“UNKNOWN” and a picture of an open lock engraved on it. When
appropriate, the Veteran’s Administration is contacted to provide
headstones for inmates who were veterans.

Jackie Brannon Correctional Center Wardens

1985 to 1986 Dan Lawrence
1986 to 1988 Steve Hargett
1988 to 1995 H.N. “Sonny” Scott
1995 to 1998 Howard Ray
1998 to present John D. Grubbs

Jackie Brannon Correctional Center was established as a prison on
7-1-85.

The area now occupied by Jim E. Hamilton Correctional Center, formerly
Ouachita Correctional Center, dates back to 1933 when it served as
the home of the Civil Conservation Corps. The facility grounds were
later utilized by the U.S. Forestry Department and in the early 1960’s
by the Hodgen Job Corps.

The facility is located in Hodgen, Oklahoma on the northern edge of
the Ouachita National Forest. The town of Poteau is approximately
twenty-eight miles to the North.

The facility grounds is a one hundred forty acre site which includes
three inmate housing units, a food service building, administration
building, medical clinic, warehouse, leisure and law libraries, chapel
and program buildings, educational buildings, maintenance building, a
multi-purpose building, gym, and extensive career-tech facilities.

In 1969 the Federal Government made the decision to demolish the
existing campsite, but plan was delayed when legislation was sponsored
by Senator James E. Hamilton to introduce a better plan for the site.
Camp Hodgen as it was called then was the first inmate training facility
in the U.S. offering vocational-technical training by the State Department
of Vo-Tech Education in cooperation with the State Department of
Corrections. The first site director was Captain Allen Vertees.

The first contingency of inmates arrived at Camp Hodgen in early 1970
with the responsibility to secure and clean all existing buildings for use.
The first position of Chief of Security was filled. The cell houses were
open bay and were called dormitories.

In 1971 the first inmate Vo-Tech students arrived at the facility. Also
during the early seventies, the first PPWP crew was dispatched to
Broken Bow and was transported by Forest Service bus to the area.
The facility operated as a sub-unit of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary
at McAlester, Oklahoma until 1973. At that time it became a separately
managed institution known as the Ouachita Correctional Center . The
name Ouachita is taken from two Choctaw words, “OWA and CHITAW.”
The meaning of the name is “BIG HUNT.” Warden James M. Crabtree
managed the facility.

The first Deputy Warden was appointed in 1975. The same year the
first chapel was dedicated.

Mr. Leonard Sullivan was Chaplain then and Mr. Clifton DeHorney III
followed and remains Chaplain at Hamilton.

The Administration building was constructed in 1976 and Cellhouse
One was constructed the following year along with the first Segregated
Housing Unit.

The facility was first accredited by ACA in November, 1980.

The medical unit was constructed in 1980 and the staff consisted of
one facility RN. The construction on Cellhouse Two also began in
1980 and was completed in 1981. The same year Mr. David C. Miller
became Warden at Ouachita Correctional Facility and served in that
capacity until 1984. Cellhouse Three was constructed and double
celling of inmates began.

In 1983 the first Correctional Health Services Administrator position
was filled.

Mr. Thomas F. White began management of the facility in November
1984 and remained until 1986. During that time the Warden’s home
was constructed.

Unit Management began in 1987. Mr. William F. Yeager served as
Warden at that time.

In October 1989, Mr. Edward L. Evans became Warden and served in
that capacity until November 1990 when Mr. James E. Sorrels then
became Warden.

Mr. Sorrells remained at Ouachita Correctional Center until 1993. During
that time Ouachita Vo-Tech celebrated it’s twenty year anniversary.
Mr. Sorrells remained at the facility until July, 1993 at which time the
present Warden, Michael K. Addison, began management of the facility.

In 1995 the New Directions program began.

On December 10, 1998 the Board of Corrections approved the renaming
of the Quachita Correctional Center to the Jim E. Hamilton Correctional
Center in honor of the State Senator responsible for it’s beginning.

In 1999 the Department of Vocational and Technical Education became
the Department of Career and Technical Education also known as
CareerTech.

The facility now employees around one hundred seventy staff members
which includes unit management staff, correctional officers, medical
staff, administrative, support staff and CareerTech staff members. The
facility houses approximately seven hundred inmates at minimum-
security level.

The Jess Dunn Correctional Center is a minimum security campus-
type institution located in Taft, Oklahoma. The center, formerly a
hospital, was opened in April, 1980. The Jess Dunn institution was
originally constructed in 1932, and used as a mental hospital for Black
patients only. Through the years, the institution has been used as a
tuberculosis sanitarium, a juvenile girls facility, and a juvenile coed home.
The facility was transferred from the Department of Human Services to
the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. The institution is located on
approximately 1100 acres and is comprised of six major buildings. The
Jess Dunn Correctional Center continues to have the state’s largest
Prisoner Public Works Program providing approximately 200 inmates
to assist 24 non-profit organizations in Tulsa, Muskogee, Okmulgee,
and Wagoner counties. Inmate labor saved Oklahoma taxpayers
approximately $750,000 per year.

Jess Dunn Correctional Center

Jack Cowley April 1980 – February 1985
Stephen Kaiser March 1985 – October 1987
Michael Cody November 1987 – September 1992
Michael Carr September 1992 – July 1995
Rita Maxwell July 1995 – June 1998
Reginald Hines June 1998 – November 2000
Eric R. Franklin December 2000 – Present

The John Lilley Correctional Center was first built as a tuberculosis
sanitarium/hospital for Blacks in 1923. In 1925, the facility became the
State Training School for Negro Boys and housed Black males who
had previously been incarcerated at the Boys Training School in
McAlester. The institution was integrated in 1965, and the name was
changed to Boley State School for Boys. The Administration Building
at the facility was completely renovated in 1971. A new, six dorm unit
was constructed in 1972. Boley State School was closed by legislative
action in 1983 and on July 1, 1983 the facility was given to the
Department of Corrections. In August 1985, two new 90 bed units were
constructed and in February 1987 the kitchen/dining room was
completely renovated. John H. Lilley, for whom the facility is named,
was appointed superintendent of the facility at its inception in 1916. He
remained as superintendent until his death in 1933. Mr. Lilley, himself
called the “Orphan Boy,” was known to love the kids he served. He
died at his residence on the Training School campus as a result of
declining health following an auto accident. State Commissioner of
Charities and Corrections at that time was Mrs. Mabel Bassett, and
she delivered a eulogy at Mr. Lilley’s funeral. Permission was granted
by the Governor and the State Board of Public Affairs for Mr. Lilley to
be buried upon institutional grounds and a monument presently stands
at the entrance of the facility marking John Lilley’s gravesite.

The first Warden was Jerry Johnson and his tenure was from July 1983
until December 1987. What is most remembered about Mr. Johnson
was taking Department of Human Services employees and making them
into Correctional Professionals. Howard Ray became the second
Warden in January of 1988. His tenure lasted until February of 1990.
Andrea Bynum became the third Warden. Her tenure was from May of
1990 until March of 1991. She began the Fall Festival which enhanced
community knowledge of how the facility was run. L.L. Young became
the fourth Warden. His tenure was from August of 1991 until September
of 1998. His asset was his resourcefulness. He knew how to purchase
items at great savings to the facility. Glynn Booher became the fifth
Warden. His tenure began in October of 1998 to present. His asset is
always having time for his employees.

The Joseph Harp Correctional Center is a medium
security institution located near the town of Lexington
in central Oklahoma. The facility officially opened on
September 26, 1978, and received its first inmates
two days later. The site of the facility was used by the Navy as a firing
range during World War II. After the war, the land was turned over to
the Mental Health Department, which in turn, transferred it to the
Oklahoma Department of Corrections in 1971. The prison was named
for Joseph Harp, who served as warden at the Oklahoma State
Reformatory from 1949-1969. Warden Harp’s enlightened attitude
toward corrections not only improved the operation of the facility at
Granite, but also greatly affected Oklahoma corrections today. In
addition, Warden Harp was responsible for the Reformatory’s having
the first fully-accredited high school behind prison walls in the nation.
Al Parke was Joseph Harp Correctional Center’s first warden. Warden
Parke came to Oklahoma from Kentucky in April of 1978, five months
before the facility opened, and served as warden until April of 1980.
Joseph Harp’s next leader was Gary Maynard. Warden Maynard held
the position from June 1980 until March 1982. Ron Angelone followed
Maynard as warden. Warden Angelone served from October of 1982
until November of 1984. Jack Cowley was then appointed warden. In
September of 1983, as an aftermath of the Conner Correctional Center
riot, Joseph Harp experienced its only major disturbance to date. The
incident began as a dispute over the size of food portions and festered
into a bat-swinging melee. Before being quelled, the disturbance
included 150 participants and did $32,000 worth of damage. The
Intermediate Mental Health Unit at Joseph Harp was initiated in response
to a federal court order to provide care for the incarcerated mentally ill.
This federal court mandate was the result of the Battle vs. Anderson
lawsuit and was subsequently approved by the Oklahoma State
Legislature. A study of the mental health needs of the Oklahoma
Department of Corrections inmate population was requested by a special
committee of the State Legislature in December of 1978. As a result of
this study a Comprehensive Mental Health Plan was developed in
October of 1981. On January 4, 1982, the Intermediate Mental Health
Unit (IMHU) at Joseph Harp Correctional Center opened and began
accepting psychotic inmates. Currently, the IMHU program is divided
into three separate treatment units. One unit consists of a 20-bed
secured unit which houses acutely ill patients and all new receptions to
the IMHU for assessment and observation. While on this unit, the patient
will be evaluated and assessed by way of psychological testing and
continual observation. Once the assessment is completed, the patient
will either be discharged from the IMHU or be moved to one of the
other IMHU treatment units.

Warden Steve Hargett was Warden April 1993 – September 1995.

Accomplishments Include:

.
Began Habilitation Program for Mentally Retarded and Developmentally
Disabled inmates
.
Instituted Drug Free/Gold Card Program for inmates
.
Improved softball field – dugouts constructed


Warden H.N. “Sonny” Scott was appointed Warden in October 1995.

Accomplishments Include:

.
Constructed new centralized Food Service/Dining facility
.
Constructed a new housing unit which added 200 more beds
.
Constructed institutional Warehouse
.
Installed motion detection system around the Oklahoma Correctional
Industries perimeter
.
Installed new Micronet detection system on the perimeter fence
.
Remodeled ten cells into “Safe Cells” on the Mental Health Unit and
one cell on Segregated Housing Unit to better protect the inmates
.
Replaced old concertina style razor wire with newer, more advanced
type of razor wire, and added additional wire in high-risk areas
.
Installed air conditioning systems for the Mental Health Unit
.
Constructed cable fence barrier around South perimeter of facility
for added security
.
Instituted landscaping program to include planting trees, shrubs,
and flowers
.
Resurfaced institutional roads
.
Installed new staff telephone system at JHCC and LARC that connects
the two facilities


The Lexington Assessment and Reception Center began construction
in 1976 as a part of the Oklahoma Master Plan, authored by F. Warren
Benton, Ph.D. The maximum security receiving, medical, support
services, and administrative core building composed Phase I; Phase II
constituted three medium security housing units. The building site was
west of the Lexington Regional Treatment Center, a
minimum security facility that was a converted naval
air station and acquired by the Oklahoma Department
of Corrections in 1971, from the Division of Human
Services.

The official opening of the Lexington Assessment and
Reception Center was attended by then Governor,
David L. Boren, and Lieutenant Governor, George
Nigh, after construction completion in December,
1977. The medium security housing units began receiving inmates on
December 26, 1977, in order to provide support services. On February
15, 1978, the reception process was transferred from McAlester to
Lexington. Since the grand opening, additional units have been added.
The minimum security unit (Rex Thompson Trusty Building) began
housing inmates in May, 1983, and the fourth medium security unit
opened in September, 1983. In November, 1983, the Lexington
Assessment and Reception Center medium security incepted the Non-
Violent Indeterminate Offender Program. The program was composed
of youthful offenders committed to the Department of Corrections for
an indeterminate sentence, who, after 120 days of programs, were to
return to the court for sentencing for determinate sentencing. In July,
1986, a first in the state of Oklahoma occurred when Oklahoma County
judicial officials held court at the facility to re-sentence 130 inmates
sentenced under the NIO Act which was ruled unconstitutional. The
Youthful Offender Act has since replaced the NIO law and continues
the original programming for youthful offenders. To maximize the affects
of the short period of incarceration for these youthful offenders, the
Lexington Assessment and Reception Center designed and
implemented the Regimented Inmate Discipline Program (RID) in 1983.
RID was the first paramilitary program of its kind in the United States.
Since that time, RID has had much national and international attention
and has been featured in national publications and symposiums. Over
20 states have since implemented or are planning to implement similar
programs. The paramilitary approach to discipline and program
concentration was considered an effective approach to discipline and
program concentration has been proven an effective approach to
corrections, as evidenced by the lower recidivism rate for RID graduates
compared to general population inmates. This program was
discontinued in February 1989.

The Lexington Assessment and Reception Center Wardens are
as follows:

1977 to 1987 Pete Douglas
1987 to 1992 Steve Kaiser
1992 to 1995 R. Michael Cody
1995 to Present Steve Hargett


Friends for Folks was a program
started at Lexington Correctional Center
in 1990 to train dogs to assist the elderly
and handicapped.

Warden Douglas: Was our first warden. In 1983 a 174-bed unit was
added to the medium yard along with the Rex Thompson Minimum
Unit which houses approximately 258 minimum security inmates. The
Rex Thompson Minimum Unit was named for Officer Rex Thompson
who was killed by a LARC inmate while on duty.

Warden Hargett: 1996 LARC added a 40,000 square foot building to
allow OCI to operate a modular furniture plant. In 1998 a 200-bed
unit was added to the facility. 100 of the beds are used as “overflow”
for A&R. These inmates have already been classified as medium
security or below and are awaiting placement. The other 100
beds are used to house our drug treatment program, “Vision for
Change.”

The Mabel Bassett Correctional Center is the only maximum security
institution for women in the state of Oklahoma. The center, located in
northeast Oklahoma City, is adjacent to the Department of Corrections
administration building. Originally opened as a community treatment
center in January 1974, the center was changed to a medium security
facility in 1978. In 1982, Mabel Bassett was converted to maximum
security. The operating capacity in 1988 was 269. The actual population
averaged 300 residents.

Ted Logan opened the facility in 1974 as facility head. He was followed
by Larry Fields, Mary Livers, Howard Ray, and Neville Massie.

In the early 1930s, the Mack Alford Correctional Center was used as a
sub-prison of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma.
Inmates assigned were “trustees” and worked the farm and cattle. The
sub-penitentiary was established for four basic reasons by Governor
Murray: To separate first term convicts from the seasonal convicts, to
construct a tubercular ward for segregation, to provide work for the
new convicts and to raise food and lower the cost of penal institutions.
At some point in the 1930s, the inmates were returned to the main
institution and this facility became a federal, state and local Venereal
Disease Hospital. Early in 1940, the facility was used as a German
Prisoner of War Camp. The fate of the previous venereal disease patients
and POWs is not clear, with the exception of those POWs who chose to return
home at the end of the war. During the late 1940s,
the State Penitentiary again used the facility as a sub-
prison. In 1948, the inmates were returned to the main
prison and this facility then became the Stringtown
Training School for White Boys. In August of 1956,
the facility again became an Honor Farm of the main institution and in
1959, the Vocational Rehabilitation Schools were added and the
institution became known as the Vocational Training School, a subunit
of the main institution. In 1968, the institution erected the current
fence and towers and became a medium and minimum security subunit.
In July 1973, the unit was separated from the main institution and
in November 1977, the name was changed to Stringtown Correctional
Center and the security level was made medium. The center’s name
was officially changed to the Mack Alford Correctional Center, on March
27, 1986, in honor of Warden Mack Alford. Warden Alford, a 30 year
veteran of corrections, died on March 10, 1986. During his 24 years at
the Stringtown facility he served in the capacity of captain,
superintendent, deputy warden, and the warden. On May 1, 1986 Ted
Wallman became warden of the Mack H. Alford Correctional Center.

MACC was established in July of 1973

Ted Wallman was followed as Warden by Dan M. Reynolds from
September 12, 1988 - December 16, 1991, and Bobby Boone was
appointed Warden December 16, 1991.

During Warden Boone’s tenure the following accomplishments have
been realized.

1.
No fatalities at the facility.
2.
Facility CERT Team went to National Final Competition three
successive years.
3.
CATCH Program (drug rehabilitation program) developed.
4.
Warden’s Crew and Warden’s Crew trailer prototype initiated and
developed.
5.
Instrumental in development of first statewide CERT training at Camp
Gruber.
6.
Initiated SOC (Save Our Kids) Program.
7.
Completed C Unit.
8.
Built New Kitchen, Lower Administration Building, Warden’s
Residence, Wellness Center, OCI Warehouse and Sallyport, and
remodeled the Scout House.
9.
Planted first DOC garden; installed computerized fence alarm system.


The William S. Key Correctional Center was formally opened on
December 6,1988, as a minimum security institution at Fort Supply,
Oklahoma, and named after the late General William Key. General Key
served as warden of Oklahoma State Penitentiary on two different
occasions. He was president of the U.S. Wardens Association and also
served as chairman of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board from
1928 to 1932. Key was best known for his military activities, serving as
commander of the 45th Division in 1940, commanding general of the
U.S. Forces in Iceland from June 1943 to December 1944, and
commanding general of the U.S. Forces in Hungary from January 1945
to August 1946. Sue Frank was the first warden.

In 1957, Ms. Frank graduated from Bristow High School. In 1960 she received
a nursing degree from Hillcrest Medical Center School of Nursing in Tulsa and
a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Social Work Certification from the University of
Northern Iowa, in 1975.
Upon transferring from William S. Key Correctional Center in 1992 Ms.
Frank had 16 years of experience in corrections, joining the Oklahoma
Department of Corrections in 1984, initially working as a Case Manager
at the Oklahoma City Community Treatment Center. In 1985 she was
promoted to Superintendent of Kate Barnard Community Treatment
Center.

On October 10, 1988 she was appointed warden of the yet-to-be
established minimum-security facility at Fort Supply, William S. Key
Correctional Center, which was officially opened December 6, 1988.

Ms. Frank has prior correctional experience in Iowa as assistant director, division
supervisor, probation supervisor, probation officer, and volunteer director for the First
Judicial District Department of Correctional Services. Other experience includes psychiatric
management in Wyoming.

Ms. Frank was instrumental in the establishment of the Historic
Foundation dedicated to restoring and interpreting the history of the
Camp Supply era, a former military site.

Jim Dennis Followed Warden Frank

In June 1978 Mr. Dennis graduated from Heidelberg College, Tiffin,
Ohio, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Health and Physical Education.
Continuing graduate study has been completed at the University of
Oklahoma in Norman, East Central State University in Ada, and Bowling
Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Mr. Dennis’ career with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections began
in June 1981 as a Correctional Case Manager at Lexington Assessment
and Reception Center, following a three-year career in the mental health
field in Ohio. In October 1981 he was promoted to Mental Health Training
Specialist at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center. Mr. Dennis was
promoted to the position of Management Training Coordinator June 1,
1982 at Central Office.

In August 1984 Mr. Dennis was promoted to the position of
Administrative Assistant to the Deputy Director of Community
Corrections. April 1986 he was promoted to Superintendent of Enid
Community Treatment Center. He assumed the position of Deputy
Warden at Oklahoma State Reformatory in February 1988. In May 1992
he was appointed as Warden at William S. Key Correctional Center. In
April 1993 Mr. Dennis assumed the position of Executive Director of
the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio.

Mr. Dennis was involved in the following professional organizations: American
Correctional Association, Oklahoma Criminal Justice Association, Central States
Deputy Wardens Association, and the Oklahoma Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association.

Mary Punches Followed Warden Dennis

Ms. Punches graduated from Laverne High School in 1973. In 1976
she received her Bachelor’s Degree in English Education from
Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva and in 1978 received
her Master’s Degree in English from the University of Oklahoma in
Norman.

Ms. Punches’ career with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections
began in 1979 as Administrative Technician/Typist Clerk III in Central
Office for Programs and Services. In 1980 she transferred to Lexington
Assessment and Reception Center as a Teacher II. In 1985 Ms. Punches
became the Regional Training Coordinator for the Western Region.
She held three positions while at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center,
beginning in 1986 as Warden’s Assistant, being promoted to Case
Manager Coordinator in 1989, and promoted again in 1990 as Deputy
Warden II. Ms. Punches assumed her appointment as Warden of William
S. Key Correctional Center on May 17, 1993, bringing to the institution
a high degree of professionalism as well as her unique people skills.
Fostered by a genuine love of people and belief in their basic goodness,
she changed the philosophy of WSKCC by promoting programs
designed to bring about positive changes.

Ms. Punches was involved in the following professional organizations:
American Correctional Association, Oklahoma Correctional Association,
Southern States Correctional Association, and the National Deputy
Wardens Association.

Ray E. Little Followed Warden Punches

From his native New York City, Ray E. Little came to northwest
Oklahoma in 1972 to attend Phillips University in Enid on a basketball
scholarship. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in 1975.

Mr. Little began his career with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections
in 1976 as a Community Treatment Specialist at the Lexington Regional
Treatment Center and transferred to the Oklahoma City Community
Treatment Center in the same position in 1978.

Following a promotion in 1979 to Case Manager Supervisor, he served
at the DOC Administration Building in Oklahoma City until 1984. He
transferred to Clara Waters Community Treatment Center, and in 1988
he promoted to Unit Manager at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center.
In 1989 he was promoted to Deputy Warden and served in that capacity
until assuming his appointment as Warden of William S. Key Correctional Center on
March 1, 1996.

Mr. Little was an advocate of drug and alcohol treatment programs in corrections,
as well as a strong supporter of education.
He brought a desire to enhance existing programs and implement new
strategies in the war on drugs to WSKCC. He believed prevention is
the key a promoted prevention programs in the schools and
communities.

Mr. Little served on the Board of Trustees of Phillips University, the
Board of Directors of the Woodward Chamber of Commerce, the Board
of Directors of the Woodward Chamber of the American Red Cross,
and was Secretary of the Historic Fort Supply Foundation. Additionally
Mr. Little was a member of the following professional organizations:
American Correctional Association, Oklahoma Correctional Association,
Southern States Correctional Association, and National Association of
Blacks in Criminal Justice.

The Charles E. “Bill” Johnson Correctional Center (BJCC) is the newest
of the seventeen facilities operated by the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections. The facility is designed to house 443 adult male, felon
drug offenders, ages 18-40. The facility houses minimum-security
inmates. The facility consists of five metal buildings and three portable
buildings inside the compound and three buildings, a green house, and
a Skills Center outside the perimeter fence. The buildings inside the
compound consist of the administrative offices, medical facilities, a dining
hall, programs building, three portable buildings used for programming,
and two multi-story dormitories. On September 5, 1995, the facility
received the first trainees for the Regimented Treatment Program.
Charles E. “Bill” Johnson, for whom the facility is names,
was a catalyst in the pursuit of the correctional center
designed to impact drug offenders. When he learned about the possibility of such
a program being placed in a community in Oklahoma, Mr. Johnson recruited his
friends and business associates to help in the pursuit of making the facility
a reality.
Unfortunately, Mr. Johnson died on February 18, 1995, at the age of
66, and was unable to see the completion of the facility he had worked
so hard and faithfully to bring to his hometown. He would, however, be
pleased to know that the Charles E. “Bill” Johnson Correctional Center
provides more than 120 jobs for this area of the state. Mr. Johnson
also would be pleased to know that because of his efforts, and those of
his friends and collages, the trainees at BJCC are provided the
opportunity to change their habits for life.

The Jim E Hamilton Correctional Center is a minimum security, campus-
type institution located on a scenic 140-acre site on the northern edge
of the Ouachita National Forest. The center is located approximately
26 miles south of Poteau in LeFlore County.

The area now occupied by the Jim E. Hamilton Correctional Center
(formerly the Ouachita Correctional Center) and the Jim E. Hamilton
Career Tech Center (formerly Ouachita Training Center) is one of a
colorful and awesome servitude. In 1933, during the Great Depression,
this area served as the home of a Civil Conservation Corps – better
known as a CCC Camp. The U. S. Department of Forestry later used
the area and in the 1960s, the Hodgen Job Corps was established.

With the demolition of the existing campsite by the federal government
looming, Senator James E. Hamilton sponsored legislation creating
the Ouachita Correctional Center in 1969. OCC was the initial offender
training facility in the United States offering vocational technical training
by the State Department of Vo-Tech Education in cooperation with the
Department of Corrections. In early 1970, the first offenders arrived at
Camp Hodgen (as it was originally called) with the responsibility to
secure and clean all existing buildings in use. The first offender votech
students arrived at Ouachita Correctional Center on February 15,
1971. The facility operated as a sub-unit of the Oklahoma State
Penitentiary at McAlester until July 1973 when it became a separately
managed institution known as the Ouachita Training Center.

Ouachita Training Center began operations under the supervision of
the Manpower Development and Training Division of the Oklahoma
Department of Vocational and Technical Education and Kiamichi Area
Vo-Tech based in Wilburton. Mr. Harvey Clagg was hired as the first
site director.

Since the first programs opened at Ouachita, part of the training for the
student involved “live work.” Citizens of the surrounding area are allowed
to bring items to the skill center for repair by the appropriate technical
program. The responsibility of working on “real-world” projects promotes
maturity in the student as well as providing community service.

Ouachita Correctional Center was renamed to the Jim E. Hamilton
Correctional Center by the approval of the Board of Corrections on
December 10, 1998. Through the action of the Board of Corrections,
the Ouachita Vo-Tech Skills Center was renamed to the Jim E. Hamilton
Career Tech Center in April 1999 in honor of state representative Jim
E. Hamilton.

Henry Manning and Paul Mode, masonry and building technology
instructors at the Jim E. Hamilton Career Tech Center, used several of
their students to assist in the construction of the Regional Fire/Safety
Training Center in Poteau. The Fire/Safety Training Center is the second
in a network of 11 throughout the state that are funded by the legislature
through the Department of Agriculture. The information regarding this
project was printed in Inside Corrections, August 1999.

The first warden was James M. Crabtree, followed by David C. Miller in
1981, Thomas F. White in 1984, William (Bill) Yeager in 1986, Edward
Evans in 1989, James E. Sorrels in 1990, and Michael Addison in 1993.

Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center (EWCC) is built on the original
site of the Indian Mission School Haloche Industrial Institute in Taft,
Oklahoma. In 1909, Stephen Douglas Russell founded the Deaf, Blind
and Orphan Institute (DB&O) which housed deaf, blind and orphaned
children. From 1909 until 1961 the DB&O Institutue was self-sufficient.
The state operated children’s homes under many different names until
May of 1986 when legislative action transferred the facility to the
Department of Corrections. The facility became the George Nigh Staff
Development Center handling the department’s pre-service and in-
service staff training. During the 1988 special legislative session called
to address prison overcrowding, the center was designated as a
minimum-security prior for female inmates.

EWCC was named after Dr. Eddie Walter Warrior who had been
appointed business manager over the DB&O Institute, a juvenile facility
and mental institution. He was superintendent of Muskogee County
Schools in 1950-51 and was appointed principal and then
superintendent of the Taft school system in 1961. He retired from service
in February 1979.

EWCC opened in January 1989 and currently houses 650 female
minimum-security inmates. It is the largest facility operated by the state
and employs over 150 staff. The facility is divided into three general
population units and the Regimented Treatment Program (RTP), a 12
month military style program with substance abuse and domestic
violence components added to address addiction and family violence
issues. The RTP unit is housed in one of the original buildings built for
the DB&O Institute in 1909.

Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center Wardens

Joy Hadwiger December 1988 – November 1992
Rita Maxwell November 1992 – November 195
Debbie Mahaffey July 1995 – July 1999
Vicki Shoecraft July 1999 to December 2000
Eric R. Franklin December 2000 - Present

Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center is a minimum security facility
with an operating capacity of 420 adult male inmates. The relationship
between the Department of Corrections and the Department of Mental
Health and Substance Abuse Services at Eastern State Hospital in
Vinita, Oklahoma, began in 1985 with the establishment of the Treatment
Alternatives for Drinking Drivers (TADD) program. A trusty unit was
established to provide institutional support to the hospital in 1980. In
1987, the Department of Corrections Agri-Services Unit began leasing
the farmland at Eastern State Hospital. After several years of this
expanding relationship, the legislature passed laws in 1994 transferring
three large buildings at Eastern State Hospital to the Department of
Corrections for use as prison bed space. In December 1994, the first
inmates were transferred to the newly established facility. Subsequently,
a new 264 bed housing unit, a dining/kitchen facility, Central Control
and the warehouse/maintenance building were constructed. Both
renovation and construction continue. A portion of the inmate population
continues to provide institutional maintenance and support functions
for both the Eastern State Hospital and Northeast Oklahoma
Correctional Center. Other inmates are involved in Prisoner Public
Works (PPW) programs and institutional farming operations. John
Middleton was the first warden at this newly created facility.

Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center Wardens

John H. Middleton July 1994 to June 1998
Michael B. Mullin July 1998

During Warden Mullin’s tenure, NOCC received its first accreditation
from the American Correctional Association in May 1999.

The History of James Crabtree Correctional Center

James Crabtree Correctional Center is located in Helena, Oklahoma,
on the grounds of the old Connell Agriculture College. The institution
has a history that precedes statehood.

The facility was orignially established in 1904, and has served the people
of the state of Oklahoma as a county high school, a junior college, an
orphanage, and a Department of Human Services’ training school for
boys. On May 24, 1982, by action of the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections, the former Helena State School for Boys was redesigned
as the James Crabtree Correctional Center.

This facility was named in honor of a former warden, James Crabtree.
Mr. Crabtree’s career in corrections began in 1949 as a correctional
officer at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. In 1978, three years prior
to retirement, he was named warden of the Ouachita Correctional
Center. Warden Crabtree passed away in 1981.

Former wardens of James Crabtree Correctional Center are:

1982 - 1986 James Frazier
1986 - 1990 Michael D. Parsons
1990 - 1997 Edward L. Evans
1997 - 1998 Gary Gibson

The current warden, Lenora Jordan, was named to this position in
January 1998. Warden Jordan began her career with the oklahoma
Department of Corrections in September 1981. She has served as an
administrative assistant, records manager, case manager supervisor,
and as the administrator of the Center for Correctional Officer Studies.
Prior to transferring to James Crabtree Correctional Center, Warden
Jordan was the deputy warden at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in
McAlester.

Since the transfer of this facility to the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections in 1982, the James Crabtree Correctional Center has
undergone two major construction phases. It currently is composed of
seven housing units, and houses 875 medium and minimum security
inmates. James Crabtree Correctional Center is the only medium security
prison in Oklahoma that primarily operated as an open dormitory-style
facility passing it’s last ACA re-accreditation audit in May 2000 with the
highest score ever achieved at JCCC: 10% on mandatory standards
and 99.1% on non-mandatory standards.


Clara Waters Community Corrections Center

The Clara Waters Community Treatment Center was opened in March,
1978, as an all female facility and later changed to coed in September,
1983. In 1978, the center was the only Department of Corrections
facility which fosters family ties by allowing overnight visiting with inmate
children on the weekends.

Joyce Jacobson March 1978 – December 1982

Ms. Jacobsen was the first superintendent of Clara Waters. During her
tenure, Clara Waters Community Corrections Center was co-ed.

Mary Livers May 1983 – March 1985

During her tenure, the population at Clara Waters increased to 212
inmates due to the need for the agency to increase the number of
inmates housed. Ms. Livers left Clara Waters Community Treatment
Center in March 1985 to assume the position of Administrator of
Classification and Programs for DOC.

Richard Morton May 1985 – October 1990

The five years between 1985 and 1990 saw a complete turnaround in
the philosophy of community corrections. In May of 1985, the direction
was towards work release and reintegration back into the community.
Community service work was given to the minimum facilities, and the
inmates were to focus on getting jobs and preparing for returning to the
community. By 1990, the leadership returned the focus to work
programs and brought the crews back to Community Corrections
Centers.

Reginald Hines October 1990 – July 1997

During his tenure, correctional officers were put in uniform. The facility
became an all-male facility. The facility passed two ACA audits.

A walking/jogging track, a programs building, an exercise yard for SHU,
and a basketball court were built. All the inmate living areas were
remodeled. A vo-tech program, landscaping, was started in conjunction
with the Governor’s mansion.

Community projects were:

A walking/jogging track at Eastside YMCA
A training program was established to train inmates as basketball
officials, and they officiated at Little League basketball games.

Millicent Newton-Embry July 1997 –

.
First District Supervisor of CW under agency reorganization which
initiated probation and parole and CCC supervision as a combined
unit.
.
1998 – Facility passed ACA with 100% mandatory and 100% non-
mandatory
.
Added program space with trailer units and established RSAT/RTP
programs as well as Therapeutic Community
.
Received several awards from Oklahoma City Beautiful for work at
Lincoln Park in Oklahoma City
.
Enlarged the facility garden and greenhouse
.
Sgt. Eddie Williams was named Agency Correctional Officer of the
Year in 1999
.
1998 – Held 20-year anniversary ceremony of the facility and erected
a wall on grounds to honor Mrs. Clara Waters
.
Converted CW from 210 male bed to 152-bed facility
.
Community Project – Remodel of Donje School


The Enid Community Treatment Center is a community security facility
located in Enid, Oklahoma. The center was established in January,
1974. Since its opening in 1974, Enid CTC has had several
superintendents beginning with Terry Dungee, Curtis Fisher, Lee
Semones, Rob Melton, Kevin Meyers (Acting), Les Crabtree, Ron Van
Boening (Acting), Mike Parsons, Jim Dennis, and Marc Norvell.

Janice Melton followed Marc Norvell. After she left in 1995 they
combined District V with ECCC and Kathy Waters was the District
Supervisor, then Pat Lindley, and Mike Carr.

The Kate Barnard Community Treatment Center was opened in June,
1977. The center is housed in a former motel located in northwest
Oklahoma City. Due to the support of a special 25-member committee
appointed by the Governor, Oklahoma opened its first community
treatment center during October of 1970 in Oklahoma City. During the
1990s, the emphasis of the CTCs changed to an emphasis on providing
inmates for Prisoner Public Works Programs and names changed from
the term “Treatment” to “Corrections.”

Jerry Johnson was the first facility head and was succeeded by Joyce
Jacobson, Jeff Gedeon, Sue Frank, Marc Norvell, Dan Merritt, Kenny
Holloway, and Philip Brandon.

Due to the success of this facility and a second CTC in Tulsa, a third
CTC was opened in Lawton in April of 1973 making it the third CTC in
the state. As with the two centers previously opened, the Lawton CTC
encountered opposition because of a lack of public education concerning
the program. In March of 1973, the Oklahoma Board of Corrections
held an open meeting in Lawton and approved the location of the Lawton
Community Treatment Center at South West 6th and Coombs Road,
adjacent to Interstate 44. The facility is housed in a renovated
warehouse that was prepared for the Department of Corrections’ use
at the expense of the leasor. The facility was leased until September,
1981, when the property was purchased from the leasor for the sum of
$10. Superintendent T. G. Byrns and his staff of ten received the first
six residents on April 4, 1993. FY 84 saw the retirement of first LCTC
superinendent, T.G. Byrns. Ted Logan, former warden of the Mabel
Bassett Correctional Center, became the second superintendent. In
FY 88, Dennis Cunningham, formerly assistant superintendent at the
three Oklahoma City area CTCs became the third superintendent of
the Lawton CCC.

Lawton Community Corrections Center Superintendents

FACILITY ADMINISTRATOR DATES OF APPOINTMENT
T.G. Byrns, Supt. July 1972 to October 1983.
Pat Collins, Asst. Supt. October 1983 to May 1984.
Ted Logan, Supt. May 1984 to December 1987.
Dennis Cunningham, Supt. December 1987 to December 1992.
Janice Melton, Acting Supt. December 1992 to February 1993.
Cherie Miller Sales, Supt. February 1993 to October 1996.
Greg Camp, Interim Supt. October 1996 to April 1997.
Jimmy Carter, Asst. Dist. Supv. May 1997 to Present.

In 1992, Lawton Community Corrections Center and Waurika
Community Work Center inmates teamed up with nearly 1600 citizen
volunteers from the City of Duncan to construct the Centennial Park on
the grounds of the multimillion dollar Simmons Center. The Centennial
Park is the first part of it’s kind in this area that provided handicap
accessibility. Inmates supervised by Lawton CCC staff worked 12hours
a day for five days alongside the volunteers to completely
construct a mammoth wooden park structure.

In 1993 Lawton CCC inmates participated in the Gang Graffiti Project
with the Lawton Police Department Gang Task Force. The project was
established to remove gang graffiti from twenty-eight sites throughout
the City of Lawton using donated items. This project was the second in
the state and was established per new legislation co-authored by
Senator Sam Helton and Senator Keith Leftwich.

In 1994, the Lawton CCC/CWC’s Management Team received the
Governor’s commendation for the 1994 Quality Oklahoma Team Award
for implementation of Lawton CCC/CWC’s central transportation unit
and the warehouse unit. Both of the projects reduced costs to the state
by eliminating staff overtime and added vehicle usage. By implementing
the central transportation unit the facility was able to reduce the number
of state vehicles having to travel from various parts of the state to drop
off and pick up inmates which were being transported by the agency’s
central transport unit. With the installation of the warehouse this allowed
for less waste and the monitoring of supplies and equipment.

In 1995, Lawton CCC inmates helped in the refurbishing of a dormitory
wing at the Fort Sill Indian School in Lawton. The building had been
vacant for years and required extensive work. After the work was completed,
the Comanche Language Program for tribal children of preschool
ages 3, 4 and 5 took possession. From this project stemmed
the refurbishing of one of the old dormitory buildings at the school. The
refurbished dormitories will be used as a drug recovery halfway house
for the Comanche Tribe.

In 1995, Lawton CCC inmates worked on extensively repairing the
grandstands at the American Indian Exposition in Anadarko. The grandstand
was originally constructed in 1913 and provides a revenue source
to the City of Anadarko and Caddo County. Before Lawton CCC’s
involvement in this project the fairground grandstand could not be safely
used and this project could not be completed in time allotted without
our involvement. Construction worked performed saved Caddo County
and the City of Anadarko thousands of dollars.

In December 1995, Lawton CCC inmates began work on a neglected
five-acre city park in Fletcher. Through contributions of equipment from
local businesses the ten to fifteen inmate crew began the extensive
clean up of the park by hauling out old refrigerators and furniture dumped
there and clearing out brush and old trees. Plans for the park are to
make it accessible for people to have picnics, walk their pets and ride
bicycles and horses. Fishing will also be available in one of the ponds
on the property. In July of 1996, Lawton CCC was recognized with a
first place plaque at the annual Keep Oklahoma Beautiful banquet for
donating a wide range of skills toward cleaning and renovating the city
property.

In 1996, Lawton Community Corrections Center received a donation of
an old barracks building from the Fort Sill Army Installation. Moving
and renovating the building were the only costs incurred by the facility.
The building was gutted and redone from the floor to the ceiling using
inmate labor. The building provided five new offices for the case managers,
case manager supervisor, records officer, and a typist clerk III.
The building also has a large room for inmate programs. However in
2001 another renovation resulted in the medical unit being moved into
the building and the case management staff relocating to the previous
medical unit location.

In June 1997, a request from the Town of Medicine Park for Lawton
CCC to provide labor on a major renovation project resulted in twenty-
five Lawton Community Corrections Center inmates joining with the
Friends of the Creek and the Town of Medicine Park to revamp Medicine
Park’s entertainment park. The park was built in 1926 for the
community of Medicine Park. Friends of the Creek are a board that
plans and supervisors the project. Approximately $90,000 in federal
funds was given to the renovation project. Materials needed for the
project were purchased with the funds and the Lawton Community
Corrections Center inmates furnished the labor. The inmates drained
and cleaned the bottom of the creek. They removed glass (as old as
60 years), rocks and boulders from years of cumulating, sludge (from
the 1980 spill from the Waters Treatment Plant), and dead trees and
brush. The planted trees and grass on the beach area did repair work
on the cobble stone wall in the picnic area and washed off the fungus
on the mountainside waterfall.

The Lawton Community Corrections Center enjoys a unique relationship
with Cameron University. In addition to the Cameron University
students accessing the Lawton CCC to fulfill internships/on the job training,
Cameron University also serves as a resource for secondary employment
for some DOC/LCCC staff. In January 1997 Cameron University
employed a second LCCC staff member as an adjunct professor.
This staff member was a student at Cameron University who completed
an “OJT” course requirement at LCCC, stayed on as a volunteer,
was selected as a Carl Albert intern for the LCCC, completed
graduate requirements as a Carl Albert Fellow at the LCCC and then
became employed by LCCC.

In 1998, District IV Probation and Parole/Community Corrections received
a team excellence quality award for the implementation of a
two-way radio communications system. The team received the award
for the establishment of a central radio dispatch system that sends
radio messages to both probation and parole officers and correctional
officers. The team was tasked with creating a uniform radio system for
both District IV Probation and Parole and Lawton Community Corrections
Center that would enhance public and officer safety as well as
improve the communication capabilities of both facilities in a more effect
manner. A standard radio system was created using a minimum
amount of available funds.

In 1999, funds were allocated to install a hard ceiling in the inmate
housing units, dining hall, medical unit, GED room, library, the latrines,
restrictive housing unit and correctional officer station. Lawton CCC
inmates helped with the replacement of the sheet rock tiles and installation
of the now hard ceiling. Also, during the year, renovations of
both latrines resulted in the south latrine being converted into a gang
shower. Both latrines were tiled and a handicap accessible shower
was installed in the south latrine. These improvements have helped in
maintaining a higher quality of sanitation and cleanliness.

The McAlester Community Treatment Center is a community security
facility established in October, 1978. The facility was originally built as
a hospital in 1938.

McAlester Community Corrections Center

The center was accredited by ACA in January 1981 and employed as
many as 32. From a starting population of 0, the offender population
grew to 200 on center at the time of the closing. Work release and
CAP (Chemical Abuse Program) were core programs of the center.
On July 1, 1993 while under regionalization, the center was merged
with Jackie Brannon Corrections Center and ceased to exist as a part
of Community Corrections.

Jerry Maddox was the first superintendent appointed to the center on
July 1, 1993 and remained at this post until May 1980.

Richard Carswell reported as superintendent in August 1980 and
remained for only twelve months.

Dan Lawrence was appointed in January 1982 and remained until
January 1985 when he was appointed as the first warden of Jackie
Brannon Correctional Center.

Henry Hutcherson followed Lawrence in January 1985 and remained
until June 1986 when he transferred to become deputy warden of Jackie
Brannon Correctional Center.

Debbie Mahaffey came to McACTC in August 1986 and remained until
April 1988 when she left the department to pursue private sector
employment.

Willie Higgins promoted from Assistant Superintendent at the center to
the lead role in May 1988 and was present during the renaming of the
center to McAlester Community Corrections Center. Higgins remained
as superintendent until the center merged with Jackie Brannon
Corrections Center on June 1, 1993 when he was moved to fill a deputy
warden’s role for the new merged center.

Muskogee Community Corrections Center

The Muskogee Community Corrections Center (MCCC) is a community
based correctional center located north of Muskogee. The facility opened
in February, 1974. Mr. H.C. “Andy” Anderson was the first superintendent
until July of 1986, when Superintendent Richard A. Hudley assumed
the position.

The first superintendent of the Muskogee CCC was Andy Anderson
followed by Rick Hudley, John Middleton, and Stormy Wilson.

Oklahoma City Community Corrections Center

The Thunderbird Motel (T-Bird) was leased by the Department of
Corrections in 1970. It originally served as the offices for the agency’s
administrative staff and probation/parole officers. In August 1971, the
Oklahoma City Community Treatment Center hired its first
Superintendent, Lee C. Johnson. Johnson started the first pre-release
center in McAlester, Oklahoma, in January of 1967 prior to his transfer
to Oklahoma City Community Treatment Center. The Oklahoma City
Community Treatment Center had approximately 16 residents in 1971.
The superintendent traveled to Oklahoma State Penitentiary to screen
offenders for the Work Release Program. The early 1970s saw the
beginning of CTCs. The Oklahoma City CTC was the subject of much
controversy in the community. This “plush” motel with a swimming pool
caused quite an uproar. As a consequence, the swimming pool was
filled in. The Thunderbird Motel was the first correctional property ever
purchased by the state of Oklahoma, under a lease/purchase
agreement. Officers were all of the same rank, called Community
Treatment Officers (CTOs). No one officer was designated as the
supervisor. No employment counselors, mess stewards or maintenance
supervisors were employed. The CTOs did it all, rotating responsibilities.
Very little, if any training occurred for employees.

Tulsa Community Corrections Center

Tulsa CCC superintendents include: Sonny, Scott, Larry Fields, Karen
Shortridge, Peggy Freeze, Rick Hudley, and Ruby Cooper-Jones.

The Tulsa Community Treatment Center was a coed community security
facility located in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. The facility, formerly a
school, was opened in March, 1977. The center was originally named
after Horace Mann, a pioneer in public education in America. The name
was retained after the building was purchased from the Tulsa Public
School system and eventually changed to the Tulsa Community
Treatment Center in 1985. The facility was coed and then all female
when it closed in 1998 due to costly structural repairs.

Following is an interesting composition written by Francis Campbell, a
former (deceased) employee. It provides insite into the original CCC
concept and also details obstacles which may be encountered in the
establishment of a CCC.

"Since 1971 I have been involved in establishing and relocating work
release centers in Oklahoma and particularly in Tulsa. I am writing this
account of my experiences with work release centers for the benefit of
board members and staff of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections
(DOC) and for citizens who may be interested in improving the system
of criminal justice in Oklahoma.

Prior to 1971 I had no relationship with the system of criminal justice
and only a vague understanding of criminal acts, arrests, trials,
convictions, incarceration, and release of persons from the system. In
1970 I was elected city auditor of Tulsa and a year later the Governor
of Oklahoma asked me to accept appointment to the Oklahoma Crime
Commission. The Commission dispenses $6,000,000 in federal funds
annually under the Law Enforcement Assistance Act “to improve the
system of criminal justice in Oklahoma.” The Commission was made
up of 30 appointees--mostly chiefs of police, sheriffs, district attorneys,
and other law enforcement officials. Eight of the 30 members of the
Commission were not directly engaged in law enforcement. I was one
of two elected officials to be members and I succeeded Mayor Robert J.
LaFortune of Tulsa.

Recommendations for grants came to the full commission from
committees of its members for police, courts, juvenile delinquency, and
corrections. After several months on the Commission I volunteered to
serve on the corrections committee and became deeply involved in
expanding parole services, setting standards for operation of jails, and
establishing work release centers. In 1973 the DOC and the corrections
committee established work release centers in Oklahoma City, Tulsa,
and Enid and plans were made to establish three more.

The function of a work release center is to provide a transition from the
rigid environment of a security prison to the free environment which a
prisoner will live in after completion of his or her sentence. The center
is a residence facility for prisoners who will complete their sentences
within three to six months. Counseling for job placement and for
adjustment to an open society are important components of the work
release program. It is desirable for the center to be located near a work
area where a variety of job skills are employed or to have ready access
to them through transportation services. A vital aspect of the program
is to permit contact with families and friends during the transition period.

The first attempt at locating a work release center in Tulsa was focused
on a vacant motel near 51st South and Southwest Boulevard. This
attempt was defeated by objections from owners of surrounding
businesses and from members of the legislature who represented the
area. This attempt preceded my activity on the corrections committee.

When I was a member of the committee we visited the site of the John
3:16 Mission in a building at Archer and Boston. The building was
constructed to house the printing plant and the business and editorial
offices of the Tulsa Tribune. After the Tribune and World combined in
Newspaper Printing Corporation, the buildng was sold to a charitable
foundation which let the John 3:16 Mission under Rev. Homer H. Still
occupy the three lower floors. In 1974 the DOC rented the three upper
floors from the foundation as a suitable site for a work release center.
Dormitory facilities, cafeteria facilities, and offices for administration
and counseling were installed. No structural changes in the building
were made.

The work release center continued in the John 3:16 location until
January, 1982. Operation was terminated after a small fire in the center
and the requirement of the state fire marshal that the building be
equipped with an external fire escape. The foundation which owned
the building declined to install the fire escape because of lack of funds
and the DOC was prohibited from expending state funds on a building
it did not own.

From 1974 to 1982 the record of the prisoners who were residents in
the work release center was good on the whole. There were a few
prisoners who broke the rules of the center, who took part in new criminal
activity, and who were apprehended by Tulsa police officers.
Unfortunately, these few incidents were played up in the news media
and gave the program a poor image in the community.

In 1978 the DOC made a contract with the Board of Education for Tulsa
School District #1 to lease the former Horace Mann Junior High School
building at Twelfth Street and Boston for a community based treatment
center. Under terms of the lease only male first time offenders who
had been convicted of non-violent, non-drug related crimes were to be
eligible for treatment at the center.

The Horace Mann site is one block removed from the downtown campus
of Tulsa Junior College (TJC). During negotiations for the site I called
on President Al Phillips of TJC to solicit his support. He was seriously
disturbed by the proximity of the site to TJC and recalled several rapes
of students within a few blocks of the TJC building. He predicted a loss
of 2,000 students in the next year if the community based treatment
center were established at Horace Mann. After the center became a
reality the growth of student enrollment at TJC was arrested for one
year but there was no loss in the size of the student body.

Later the facilities of the community based treatment center were
modified and expanded to accept women prisoners. There were no
restrictions in the lease regarding women prisoners so women from
high security prisons were admitted to a program for them which was
similar to the program at the work release center for men at John 3:16.
In 1986 the community based treatment center had an inmate population
of 100 men and 125 women.

In 1982, after the center at John 3:16 was closed, I recruited an ad hoc
committee to assist the DOC in finding a new location for the men’s
work release center. Members of the committee represented the
metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce (Met CC), Downtown Tulsa
Unlimited, Tulsa Metropolitan ministry, League of Women Voters, city
government officials, and the DOC. A large number of sites suggested
by real estate agents were inspected and evaluated by staff members
of DOC. The first feasible site was a warehouse on the east side of the
downtown business area and within the Inner Dispersal Loop. Former
Mayor Robert LaFortune, Sonny Scott, and I called on the owner of the
land around the warehouse and to the south of it. The owner of these
properties was violently opposed to the proposed location because of
his plans for development of the area. Later I was informed through
the Met CC that women employees of a large employer parked their
cars near the warehouse site and that this employer would move to
Houston if the DOC leased the warehouse for a work release center.
That killed this effort.

Later in 1982 a building at 38th and Memorial was proposed. It was
immediately south of the I-244 Expressway with the Vo-Tech school
on the north side of the expressway. To the south was a commercial
and industrial complex, and to the northeast was a residential area.
Residents of this area were invited to an evening meeting in the
auditorium of the Vo-Tech school. The meeting was arranged by present
state legislators elected from the area and by candidates for their
positions.

Nearly 500 persons attended the meeting. DOC was represented by
John Grider, Joy Hadwiger, and Sonny Scott. After they described the
work release program they were berated by the legislators and
candidates for not informing them much earlier about the proposed
site. Next came a barrage of objections from residents of the area to
the northeast and from businessmen with operations close to the site.

Toward the end of the meeting a minister of a church in Tulsa, who had
been on the faculty of Phillips University in Enid, spoke about the work
release center near the University. He said several students volunteered
to be on the staff of the center and became so interested in the program
that they majored in studies in criminal justice and then embarked on
careers in that field. One of the last speakers was a young lady who
identified herself as a member of the staff of the Community Based
Treatment Center at Horace Mann. She said her parents lived in the
residential area to the northeast and she had grown up there. She said
she worked with several of the prisoners at Horace Mann who had
come from the residential area to the northeast. These testimonies
calmed the audience to some extent, but there was no doubt that most
of those present were opposed.

The legislators and candidates closed the meeting by promising to
oppose the location when the DOC budget came before the legislature
for approval.

In July, 1983, the former Longfellow Elementary School was advertised
for sale by the Board of Education of Tulsa School District #1. It is
located at the northwest corner of 6th and Peoria. Sonny Scott and I
visited the site and found part of it occupied by the Street School whose
students are dropouts from the public school system. Sonny and I also
inspected two warehouses near the airport and vacant land in an
industrial area south of the Ford glass plant. The Longfellow school
site appeared to be the most readily adapted to a work release center.
Sonny asked me to make a presentation about the site to the DOC
board at its next meeting.

Before going to the board meeting, I called on three key people of
agencies near the school. First was the minister of the Central Assembly
of God which is north of Longfellow school and operates a day-care
center for children across the street from the school. I explained the
program of a work release center to the minister and he promised to
present the proposal to the board of trustees of the church.

Second was the executive of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) which
occupies a lodge building west of the school. He was a Sea Bee in
WWII and at first was strongly opposed to any program of assistance
for persons convicted of felonies. Like the minister he agreed to take
the proposal to the VFW board of directors after I had explained the
program for a work release center.

The third key person was the assistant to the executive of the Senior
Citizens’ Center operating in a building at the west end of Central Park.
Central Park is on the south side of Sixth Street and across from
Longfellow School. He was supportive of the DOC proposal and said
the students at the Street School had caused no problems for the
participants at the Senior Citizens’ Center.

I presented the proposal to bid on the Longfellow School to the Board
of Corrections and the board took the matter under consideration. My
presentation to the board was recorded by a television team from Tulsa
Channel 8. That same afternoon, people living around Longfellow
School were interviewed by a TV recording team from Channel 8.
Without an explanation of the program, the responses were strongly
negative. These interviews killed the promises of the minister and VFW
executive to present the DOC proposal to their boards.

Sale of the Longfellow School was discussed at the next three meetings
of the Board of Education.

At the first meeting there were vociferous protests against sale of the
school to DOC even though no bid had been submitted. At the second
meeting Joy Hadwiger did make a formal proposal from DOC. Questions
from members of the Board of Education were chiefly concerned with
how the work release program would be conducted. The bid was
referred to a committee of the board and to staff. Tactical errors by
representatives of DOC were not to have a prepared press release and
not to answer questions by reporters. At the third meeting the committee
returned a negative recommendation, the board voted no, and the
protestants cheered.

In September, 1983, the $500,000 appropriation to DOC for purchase
of a site in Tulsa and for modification of a building was deleted from the
budget. Consequently the search for a site for a work release center in
Tulsa is dead until funds are available to renew such an appropriation."

Kate Barnard Community Corrections Center

Superintendent Jerry Johnson September 1977 – July 1982

While he was District Supervisor, Kate Barnard was the first community
facility to be ACA accredited.

Joyce Jacobson December 1982 – October 1984

(Also see note under Clara Waters)

Jeff Gedeon January 1985 – November 1985

Sue Frank December 1985 – July 1988

During tenure as Superintendent of Kate Barnard, the community service
program was expanded to decrease offender idleness and to increase
the involvement of the community. During this time, the contract with
Red Rock Mental Health was developed for a transitional living program
for mentally ill inmates. The liaison with and monitoring of contracts
with out-count agencies was also improved. Under my direction, the
job readiness and family orientation programs were also started to
promote successful reintegration of offenders.

Marc Norvell September 1988 – October 1991

The Tree Farm was started at Kate Barnard during tenure. We also
became involved in Adopt-A-Park, which included fixing the swimming
pool at Delaney Park. Kate Barnard was a first offender, male facility
initially but was changed to a non-violent male offender facility during
this time.


Dan Merritt October 1991 – March 1997

.
Converted KB from a 90-bed male facility to a 125-bed female facility
.
Acquired transfer of land to the west of KB from Department of
Transportation to the Department of Corrections
.
Received “beautification award” from Oklahoma City Beautiful
.
Expanded number of PPWP jobs available at KB
.
Achieved re-accreditation for KB twice


Kenny Holloway March 1997 – June 1999

Acquired former DOC Construction & Maintenance building, which
became administrative offices for Kate Barnard and presently are the
administrative offices for District VI Community Corrections/Residential
Services

Philip Brandon July 1999 – December 2000

During tenure as District Supervisor for District VII Probation and Parole/
Community Corrections, KB inmates assumed the horticulture program
at the Governor’s Mansion from Clara Waters Community Corrections
Center. The Therapeutic Community at KB was also established and
implemented during tenure as District Supervisor.


CHAPTER VI: DISTURBANCES

The 1973 OSP Riot and Fire

A devastating riot which took three lives, caused several serious inquiries,
burned 24 buildings together with costly equipment, furniture, and raw goods
and paralyzed all utilities in the prison, started on July 27,1973, at
about 2:30 p.m. close to the mess hall. A good part of the prison, which earlier
generation prisoners helped build, was destroyed by later generation of
prisoners. Sixty years of work was undone in a few hours, inflicting a
heavy loss of over 20 million dollars on Oklahoma’s taxpayers.

Causes

. Overcrowding; OSP, with a capacity for about 1,100 inmates, had a
population of about 2,200 in the summer of 1973.

. The refusal of Governor David Hall to sign parole recommendations
for drug offenders or those convicted of violent crime was driving
the affected prison inmates to desperation.

. The correctional officers were poorly paid ($390 a month), ill
educated, and untrained. A consultant for ACA referred to the officers
as “functionally illiterate or nearly so.” These officers felt threatened
when some controls were placed on their clubbing or gassing of the
inmates. The use of mace was also curtailed.

. The security staff was severely inadequate in number which hurt
security and control. Also, their monthly turnover rate was as large
as nine percent.

. The violence within McAlester was alarming. From January 1970
until the riot and fire of July 27,1973, records show 19 violent deaths,
40 stabbings, and 44 serious beatings of inmates. Much of this
violence was attributed to the severe shortage of convict supervision.

. Continued racial segregation and discrimination, censorship, and
restriction of mail, inadequate health care, poor food preparation,
and idleness were factors which contributed either directly or
indirectly to unrest at OSP.

. Narcotic traffic and beer making were commonplace. Gambling, loansharking,
and power plays of ‘convict bosses’ became a vicious
circle. These practices could, at times, lead to assaults and rapes.

. A majority of prisoners on January 22, 1973, staged a three-day
hunger strike to elicit sympathy for their cause from the appropriate
quarters outside the prison.

. Poor communication and dialogue between the inmates and the
authorities.

Prison officials feared that riot was coming, but no one knew “when.”
When it did come, “it was somewhat of a spur of the moment deal.”
There were about 15 prisoners who were hiding long knives and were
wandering around in the yard asking some other prisoners to join them.
They went to the inmate mess hall and stabbed Lieutenant Thomas
Payne and Captain C. C. Smith. Both of them had to be rushed to the
hospital. Six or seven armed inmates started taking hostages. Then
came the first call over the public address system: “We have taken
over. We’ve got weapons. We’ve got hostages. It’s a revolution. Come
and help us.” Within 15 minutes, a full-scale riot was in progress. Some
looted the medical supplies in the hospital area and began taking any
kind of drugs available. Still others spent time in the paint shop, sniffing
glue and paint thinner. They then armed themselves with long knives.
By 5:35, the hospital had been seized and additional hostages taken,
bringing the number of hostages to 14. By 6:00, all buildings on the
north side of the main security area were burning. The print shop, chapel,
library, and sign plant were destroyed. The plasma
clinic, book bindery, broom and mattress factory, bakery, and mess
hall were burning. Inmates roamed freely everywhere except the main
administration area. At 6:20, the hospital was burning. At 7:30, the
canteen had been torched. Some 21 officers were now held hostage,
ten of whom were dressed in inmate uniforms. The flames and dark
clouds of smoke added to the horror of the tragedy. The utilities were
completely gutted; there was no electricity; and the prison plunged into
complete smoky darkness as the night fell. The only light in the prison
came from the burning buildings. The inmates had seized an outside
telephone line in the fire house and were placing calls all over the
country. Many inmates used the darkness as an opportunity to take
revenge on fellow-inmates against whom they had a personal vendetta.
Others plundered the cells of some of the “wealthy” inmates and took
their personal belongings. Three inmates were fatally stabbed by the
rioting inmates. The officials at the key positions handling the tragic
situation were Governor Hall; his press secretary, Ed Hardy; Leo
McCracken, director of Corrections; Irvin Ungerman, chairman of the
Board of Corrections; Warden Anderson, and Sam Johnston, deputy
warden (who was one of the 24 hostages).

Prison inmates had formulated a list of demands to be delivered to the
Governor, including a demand for live television coverage, a visit by
Governor Hall to the cell block to discuss grievances, an American
Civil Liberties Union attorney, and newspaper reporters. At 7:45 p.m.,
the Governor’s message to the inmates to “release all hostages and
restore order, whereupon he (would) appoint a committee to investigate
their complaints” was read out to the inmates, who refused to accept it.

By midnight, about 250 troopers were poised to strike if necessary. But
a strike would have been costly in terms of the lives of the 24 hostages
and the countless inmates. With a knife at his throat, hostage Johnston
urged restraint. He pleaded on the phone: “Whatever you do, don’t let
the troops come in here. Just give me time. I can talk them out of it.”
From that point onward, phone negotiations became more frequent. A
few hostages had already been released for health reasons as a gesture
of good will. By early morning, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers
who were standing guard in the rotunda were replaced by National
Guard troopers to meet prisoners’ request. Chairman Ungerman
personally assured the inmates that no one would be beaten or abused
as a result of the riot. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., approximately 250 inmates
exited via the east gate, they dropped their weapons-hammers,
screwdrivers, and homemade knives. At 8:30, four more hostages were
released. When the Governor agreed to allow television and news staff
inside the prison, the inmates agreed to release all hostages by 12:30
p.m. In the afternoon around 4:30, Governor Hall had a meeting with a
group of nine inmates keeping his pledge. Following the meeting,
Governor Hall said he felt that “ignorance” of the recent rules and policy
changes at the prison was one of the reasons for the riot. He added
that a new communication system would keep inmates informed of the
changes. He indicated that inmates’ grievances included medical care,
uniform rules of punishment and detention, and living conditions within
the prison. The hostages had been released, and most of the demands
had been met; but the riot was still not over. On Saturday night and
Sunday morning reports were received of new fires in the compound.
Officials believed the new outbreak was likely caused by inmates looking
for informers. Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers and National
Guardsmen entered the prison at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday to begin
sweeping the compound and looking for bodies, weapons, and hiding
inmates. There were four deaths in all, but one of the inmates was
found to have died of a heart attack.

Once the inmates had burned and destroyed their own dwelling, they
had no place to sleep, no kitchen, no drinking water because of the
broken water mains, no canteen, no hospital, and no medicines. The
Red Cross supplied meals to 1,656 prisoners on Monday, but by
Tuesday a temporary field kitchen was set up. It was not until October
23, that inmates began to eat hot meals again. They had their first
shower on August 14, 1973, after 19 days of rioting. On July 30, a
pouring rain helped to put out the last of the fires which still smoldered
throughout the compound. However, it was that same rain which brought
further distress to many inmates who remained within the walls amidst
the rubble. Later in the week, it was discovered that three inmates had
escaped. One of the escapee was Rex Brinlee who hid himself in a 6foot
hole until he could scale over the wall.

Most of the prison having been burned, all kinds of suggestions were
made. Some wanted to abandon it; some wanted to rebuild it and
improve upon it; and some wanted to reduce its capacity. Officials agreed
that Oklahoma State Penitentiary should be retained only as a maximum
security institution with a population of 400 to 500 inmates, and with
only one man per cell.

On January 19, 1914, three inmates stole a gun in an escape attempt
at OSP. They killed three prison employees and a federal judge, The
Honorable John R. Thomas. The employees killed were deputy warden,
P.C. Values; bertillion expert, H. H. Drover; and storekeeper, F. C.
Godfrey. The inmates involved were Ching Reed, Tom Lane, and
Charlie Koontz. The convicts were later killed behind a rock ledge
located on a ridge overlooking a wagon road.

After a lapse of 27 years, OSP witnessed another tragic prison break
on Sunday, August 10, 1941. Prison riots and prison breaks often occur
unexpectedly. At 10:30 in the morning, Warden Jess Dunn went inside
the prison, accompanied by J. H. Fentriss, an electrical engineer; and
R. W. Murray, a contractor; and the ten-year-old son of Mr. Murray.
Warden Dunn’s objective was to point out a spot which needed repairs.
Little did this group know that there were four prisoners planning a
prison break. Inmates Clade Beaver, Roy McGee, Bill Anderson, and
Prather, all in their mid 30s and undergoing long sentences for Robbery
and Murder, pounced upon Warden Jess Dunn and the party, and
stabbed Warden Dunn. The inmates then used them as hostages and
threatened to kill the hostages if anyone tried to interfere with their
escape. Once they managed to get out of the building, they seized an
officer’s car and drove off with two hostages, Warden Dunn and Engineer
Fentriss. The escaping inmates took a lane which came to a dead end
because of a culvert which had been taken out. Sheriff Alexander,
accompanied by Deputies Ford and Pollak, were in pursuit. When the
prisoners could not turn back from the dead-end street, they encountered
the pursuing police and shot at Deputy Ford who fell. Sheriff Alexander
took cover and shot at the escaping convicts killing three of them. The
fourth convict, Prather, surrendered and was subsequently tried for
killing Warden Jess Dunn and Deputy Ford. He was already undergoing
a life sentence for Murder; and he finally met his end in an electric
chair. Jess Dunn was a respectable warden, who lost his life while
performing his duties. Both prison breaks of 1914 and 1941 were similar
in many ways, both were tragic in that they inflicted heavy losses of life
both for prison officials and escaping inmates.

On December 17, 1985, the inmates became disruptive and attempted
to gain control of the first floor of the F Cellhouse and to take hostages.
This attempt was unsuccessful; however, they managed to take
hostages and gain control of A and C units. Five employees were
taken hostage on both A and C units, and there was destruction on
both units in the approximate amount of $375,000.

The inmates on C unit seriously wounded three of their hostages which
resulted in permanent physical damage to two of the officers. These
correctional officers were released in order that they might have medical
attention. The remaining officers were released at approximately 11:30
a.m., on December 18, 1985. The ultimate result of this very serious
incident was a total change in the operation of Oklahoma State
Penitentiary. Very tight security measures were imposed. Inmates
were allowed to move about freely, but had to move in small groups
escorted by security staff. Recreation was limited to one hour per day.
A level system was implemented, requiring the inmate to advance from
the lowest level to the highest level before a transfer to a lesser security
facility would be considered.

In January, 1949, a riot occurred at OSR during the noon meal in the
dining hall when inmates refused to return to their work stations. Some
officers were beaten when they tried to get the inmates to leave and
three officers were taken hostage. Other officers fired tear gas into the
dining area, and the riot ended as quickly as it had begun. Three officers
were injured, and 38 inmates were placed in solitary confinement.


Dick Conner Correctional Center Riot

While the Department of Corrections was making rapid strides and all-
round progress, the system experienced an unfortunate, though
temporary, setback at a brand new institution. At approximately 7:30
p.m., August 29,1983, a group of approximately 37 inmates from Units
A and C of the Conner Correctional center proceeded to the facility
kitchen to protest the shortage of food served those respective units
for the evening meal. After arriving at the kitchen, this group of inmates
was joined by stragglers, causing the congregation to accumulate to
approximately 80 inmates in the area. A number of verbal exchanges
occurred between various staff members, and the group of inmates
grew increasingly larger. Orders were given to the group to return to
their assigned housing units with instructions that additional food was
being prepared. The orders and instructions were ignored. As
frustrations intensified, a rock was thrown through a kitchen window.
The acts of destruction then escalated into a full scale riot. A riot
proclamation was issued by Governor George Nigh at 1:00 a.m., August
30, 1983. The inmates torched the buildings adjacent to the kitchen
and completely destroyed the library, school, and church area. All of
this resulted in the death of an inmate and the loss of $3 million to the
tax payer. Legislators were furious because they were forced to find
extra millions of dollars within three years of the opening of the prison.

It must be noted here that this occurred a little more than 10 years after the
deadly riot at the Penitentiary. It appears that Oklahoma prisoners were
into the pattern of burning prisons at the time of riot. This infuriated some
legislators who were unwilling to replace the burned law library.

There were no persistent and chronic deep-seated grievances on the part of
prisoners, and the triggering factors were food shortages; long lockdown
times; and high summertime temperatures. In September, 1983, the
first special session of the 39th Legislature reappropriated nearly $2.5
million to fund reconstruction of the Dick Conner Correctional Center.



Riot at Mack Alford Correctional Center

At approximately midnight on May 13, 1988, two inmates took a
correctional officer hostage at knife point. Attempts were made to
negotiate with the inmates to no avail. The inmates dressed the hostage
in an inmate’s white uniform and moved him to the East Building, where
they were joined by about 15 other inmates. The incident continued to
escalate into a serious hostage situation, during which eight correctional
employees were taken hostage, and approximately 80 inmates rioted
and destroyed state property at a cost of near $7 million.

The uprising was finally terminated during the late morning hours of
Monday, May 16, when the ten main participants in the hostage taking
and destruction of property released the last two hostages and
surrendered without incident. An additional 41 inmates, still on the
compound, also surrendered without incident.


Commissioner of Charities

From the election of Kate Barnard as the state’s first Commissioner of
Charities and Corrections in 1907 until the abolishment of the office in
1979, a total of five people held the post that controlled prisons in
Oklahoma prior to the creation of the Department of Corrections in
1967. The final commissioner, Jim Cook, remained in office for three,
four-year terms, although the legislature removed corrections from his
oversight less than six months into his first term in office.

Kate Barnard (1907-1915)

Kate Barnard was an important figure in the history of the Oklahoma
Department of Corrections. She was an active social reformer and the
first female in the nation to be elected to a statewide office without a
single female vote. She was elected the first commissioner of the
Department of Charities and Corrections during a time that women were
not allowed to vote in Oklahoma. From the time of her election in 1907
until the end of her two terms of office in 1914, Miss Barnard caused 30
statutory laws to be passed by the Oklahoma Legislature, a record that
few legislators could boast or compete with today. These laws had to
do with the establishment of what is today called the Department of
Mental Health, the Department of Human Services, and the Department
of Corrections.

William B. Matthews (1915-1923)

William B. Matthews was elected as the second Commissioner of
Charities and Corrections. The legislature promptly cut the department’s
budget from its $15,600 level in 1912-1913 to just $8,900 for the first
two years of his administration. At the same time Matthews was elected
to the position of commissioner of Charities and Corrections, the
Governor appointed him to the Board of State Pensions and he was
subsequently elected chairman. As a result, he devoted more than
half of his time to that board and neglected his elected office.

Mabel Bassett (1923-1947)

Mabel Bassett served as the third commissioner of Charities and
Corrections. During her tenure, Miss Bassett worked to establish and
maintain standards for juvenile and adult correctional facilities and the
state’s mental institutions. She was responsible for establishing the
state Pardon and Parole Board in 1944 in an effort to create a more
equitable system for inmates to be reviewed for a pardon, leave, or
parole. In addition, with funds raised through legislative appropriation,
she was involved in building the facility that once housed women at the
Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Among other accomplishments, Miss
Bassett fought for the statute (enacted by the Eighth Oklahoma
Legislature) that made wife and child desertion a felony. For her
outstanding services for the betterment of mankind, she was inducted
into Oklahoma’s “Hall of Fame” by the Oklahoma Memorial Association
on Statehood Day (November 16) in 1937.

Buck Cook (1947-1967)

Buck Cook was Oklahoma’s fourth commissioner of Charities and
Corrections. The activities of the office were primarily limited to routine
inspections of jails and other institutions.

Jim Cook (1967-1979)

The legislature enacted the Oklahoma Corrections Act of 1967 four
months after Jim Cook took office as the fifth commissioner of Charities
and Corrections. This act created a new Department of Corrections as
of July 1, 1967, and removed it from the commissioner’s jurisdiction.

Directors, Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Arnold Pontesso (1967-1970)

Arnold Pontesso was appointed the first director of the new Oklahoma
Department of Corrections on August 2, 1967. The 52 year old Pontesso
was a 28-year veteran of the federal prison system and retired warden
of the El Reno Federal Reformatory just prior to beginning his job as
director of Corrections. He created the first community treatment center
in Oklahoma City, as a pilot program at the Thunderbird Motel.

Frank Johnson (1970)

Frank Johnson never actually served as director. His appointment was
rescinded by a new Board of Corrections just 10 days after he had
been named to the position.

Leo McCracken (1970-1973)

Leo McCracken was hired by Arnold Pontesso in November 1967 to
direct the Division of Institutions. Prior to his appointment, McCracken,
a retired corrections executive, held several federal prison positions in
Illinois, Washington, California, and Colorado. He was appointed director
of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in December 1971, a
position he held until after the Oklahoma State Penitentiary riot in 1973.

Russell Lash (1974-1975)

Russell Lash was the warden of the Indiana State Penitentiary before
assuming the position of director of the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections in August 1974. About a month after taking office, Governor
David Boren demanded Lash’s resignation. But Lash, supported by
the Board of Corrections, refused to resign. Later that year, Lash
announced his resignation to become effective on Easter of 1975. His
most significant contribution was to restore order to the state penitentiary
and establish the department’s first emergency response teams. He
served approximately eight months as director.

F. Warren Benton, Ph.D. (1975-1979)

The youngest director ever appointed to the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections was F. Warren Benton, Ph.D., on August 20, 1975. Benton
was a 26-year-old Illinois architect. He was project director for the
development of the master plan and was later hired to implement it in
Oklahoma. Dr. Benton compensated for his lack of experience in
penology by being well-motivated, widely read, and basically sound in
terms of his goals for the corrections system in Oklahoma.

Larry R. Meachum (1979-1987)

Larry R. Meachum was named director of the Oklahoma Department
of Corrections in September 1979. Under Meachum’s direction, the
Oklahoma Department of Corrections was released from the court
supervision that followed the Battle v. Anderson case. It was also during
Meachum’s tenure that the Oklahoma correctional system achieved
full accreditation. Meachum resigned in 1987 to become the
commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Corrections. Meachum
was responsible for having one budget for the DOC as opposed to
each facility being appropriated separate budgets directly from the
legislators.

Gary D. Maynard (1987-1992)

Gary D. Maynard was the first native Oklahoman to be named director
of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in February 1988. He started
with the department in 1970 as an inmate release counselor at the
Thunderbird Treatment Center in Oklahoma City. He left Oklahoma in
1977 to serve as the assistant director of the Arkansas Department of
Corrections. He returned to Oklahoma in 1980 to be a warden at the
Joseph Harp Correctional Center. He was later appointed deputy director
of Institutions, warden of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, and associate
director before being named director. He was appointed adjutant general
of the Oklahoma Military Department in June 1992. Mr. Maynard will
be remembered for his emphasis on the mission statement and
regionalization. Community work centers were also developed under
his leadership.

Larry A. Fields (1992-1996)

Larry A. Fields began his career with the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections in 1975 as a probation and parole officer in Bartlesville,
Oklahoma. In 1977 he was appointed superintendent of Tulsa
Community Corrections Center and in 1979 transferred to Horace Mann
Community Corrections Center in Tulsa, where he also served as
superintendent. Fields was appointed deputy warden of Joseph harp
Correctional Center in 1980 and was promoted to warden of Mabel
Bassett Correctional Center in 1984. He served as deputy director of
Institutions Division I from 1987 to 1991, when he was appointed regional
director of the Central Region. On June 30, 1992, Fields became the
seventh director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Mr. Fields
brought a balanced approach to the director’s position which included
efforts to implement current research into what works to reduce
recidivism. He implemented programs for reintegration and attempted
to partner with local criminal justice systems to integrate services.

James L. Saffle (1996-Present)

Mr. Saffle began his corrections career with the U.S. Army Military Police
Corps in 1972. His career with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections
began in November 1975, at Ouachita Correctional Center in Hodgen,
Oklahoma, as Corrections Officer I. He served there in several other
capacities including sergeant, lieutenant, training and safety officer,
chief of security, and deputy warden.

Mr. Saffle was promoted to deputy warden at the Oklahoma State
Penitentiary in McAlester in March 1987. In June 1987, he was
promoted to warden at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, and was in
that position until appointed Southeastern Regional Director in
December 1991. Mr. Saffle was in active duty and served his country
in Desert Storm.

On September 4, 1996, Mr. Saffle was appointed as interim director by
the Oklahoma Board of Corrections and was appointed as director by
the same body on March 5, 1997.


POTPOURRI


Who is to decide how much history to include in a book such as this?
There is so much to choose from and so little space. In an effort to
capture the emotions, beliefs, and concepts of the times, the following
is a sampling of reports presented in the DOC annual reports to the
Governor.

1987

The primary cost concerns for the Department of Corrections are housing
and food for inmates and salaries for staff to supervise inmates and
clients. In FY 87, the department took a budget cut of $3 million. The
initial cut had been higher, but for the first time, the department was
allowed to carry funds over from the previous year. Normally, when an
agency had not spent its budget appropriations by the end of the fiscal
year, the money not spent was lost. FY 86 and FY87 were different
from other years in the respect that the department had a surplus of
appropriated funds and was allowed to carry the funds over into FY 87.

In FY 87, the State Legislative Services Bureau received a grant from
the Federal Bureau of Justice Assistance to purchase a computer model
which would generate projections of prison populations. The model
was developed by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and
has already been implemented in other states. Personnel from the
Oklahoma Department of Corrections worked closely with the NCCD
staff to adapt the model to match Oklahoma’s correctional system, collect
appropriate data, and run the projection program.

1968
DI-P&P

July 1, 1967 July 1, 1968
Number of Parole Officers 4 9
Size of Total Caseload 324* 952
Number of Special Investigations 38 267
Average Caseload per Officer 81.0 105.8
Median Caseload per Officer 77 104

*Where exact figures are lacking, the best approximations of the Division of Probation
and Parole are presented.


The expanded services offered have seen the
numbers of referrals multiply by leaps and
bounds over a relatively short period of time.
Not only are the number of cases handled by
each probation and parole officer greater
throughout the state, but also the demands
for diversified endeavor on the parts of each
probation and parole officer have been rapidly
increasing. The Legislature has authorized
the expansion in numbers of probation and
parole officers through increased
appropriations and the department has
undertaken extensive basic training programs
to help old and new officers acclimate to the new demands of their
positions. Even with these advances, however, the pressing need for
even more field officers and in-service training programs in more
specialized technical areas have become apparent and are currently
being responded to by this Division of the Department of Corrections.

Mrs. M. F. Sherrill
Head Matron
Mrs. M. F. Sherrill, Head Matron at the Women’s Ward at McAlester,
has had the opportunity to institute several new programs during this
past year. Through the cooperative efforts of Vocational Rehabilitation
and the Department of Corrections, she has been able to start typing
classes for women in order that they might be able to gain knowledge
and experience which will ready them for employment in this particular
field when they return to society. During the last part of the year, the
institution was able to acquire from Vocational Rehabilitation the
necessary equipment to establish a school of cosmetology at the
Women’s Ward. It is anticipated that approximately one-third of the
inmate population at the Ward will be involved in this program. Through
the testing and screening processes that have been established, a
woman can enter the program, be tested, and be licensed by the time
she is ready for parole.


New Beauty Shop Typing Class


Mr. W. L. Galloway, stepping up from the position as agricultural
coordinator of McAlester into the newly created position of institutional
farms coordinator for the department, plans and directs all agricultural
programs including livestock, poultry, and crop productions, based on
the Institution requirements; the purchase of livestock, agriculture
machinery, supplies and equipment and assigns and supervises the
work program of employees and inmates assigned to trusty units
engaged in agriculture production.

He supervises expenditures in the farm operation and maintains records,
inventory and production reports from all farm units.

Other responsibilities include the coordination of institution policies,
inmate care and welfare, security and personnel matters between
various trusty units and the Administrative Offices.

Two of the major changes of this past year are the establishment of a
beef herd at Granite and the coordination of all agricultural products for
Institutional needs.

Pat Nimrod, industrial coordinator of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary,
has for the past six years developed and expanded the various industrial
programs within our institution. The Industries Department was
established by State Statute which provides for its operation and its
finance. During the past year, we have seen the establishment of two
new industries—those being the sign shop and the acquisition of a
new sawmill. Both these industries will help considerably in expanding
the financial basis of the institution. Auto license tags for the state are
produced under the industries program, and this report was produced
through the facilities of the print shop. Other industries currently
operating Include a canning plant, book bindery, soap and paint factory,
furniture factory, garment factory, broom and mattress factory, and brick
plant.

Net proceeds from the Industries program for the past year were In
excess of one million dollars.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND PROGRESS REPORT
JANUARY 1, 1967, THRU DECEMBER 31, 1967


The objective of the Prison Farms is to furnish food for the Institution
and to provide a rehabilitation program for the inmates in the field of
Agriculture. This report of operation is for the period of January 1, 1967,
through December 31, 1967.


Farm Production

Percent of
Institutions
Requirements

DEPARTMENT QUANTITY VALUE filled

DAIRY
Milk 233,440 gal. $140,530.88 100%.
Beef (dressed) 32,582 lbs. $10,575.21.
Cattle Sold (cash) 52 head $3,366.70.


TOTAL DAIRY PRODUCTION $154,472.79.

POULTRY
Eggs 196,596 doz. $53,473.95 100%.
Broilers – Hens (dressed) 68,889 lbs. $18,140.26 100%.
Turkeys (dressed) 23,714 lbs. $8,299.90 100%.

TOTAL POULTRY PRODUCTION $ 79,914.11.

SWINE
Pork (dressed) 257,353 lbs. $ 66,477.05 100%.
TOTAL SWINE PRODUCTION $ 66,477.05.

BEEF HERD
Beef (dressed) 62,304 lbs. $ 27,232.75 45%.
TOTAL BEEF PRODUCTION $ 27,232.75.

VEGETABLE PRODUCTION (Total) $ 27,714.29.
Varies

FIELD CROPS
Hay (Alfalfa) 43,710 bales $ 30,597.00 100%.
Hay (Prairie) 20,613 bales 8,245.20 100%.
Milo-Maize 4213.4 bushels 5,056.08 25%.
Soybeans Sold (cash) 107,490 lbs. 4,281.51.

TOTAL FIELD CROP PRODUCTION $48,179.79.

CASH SALES (Sundry) $ 17,782.22.

TOTAL FARM AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION $421,773.00.

LIVESTOCK AND FEED INVENTORY INCREASE 54,364.49.

LAND VALUE INCREASE 75,000.00.

GRAND TOTAL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION $551,137.49.


1982

In July, 1981, an administrative probation and parole officer was selected
to administer the Probation and Parole Resource Officer Program. The
purpose of this program is to establish a network of resources to be
used in the supervision of clients. The program involves the utilization
of resource contacts (substance abuse, employment, education, mental
health), case consultations, officer education, development of a resource
directory, utilization of volunteers and student interns, public relations,
and advocacy for client needs.

The successful experience of Oklahoma City TASC in working as a
viable referral and monitoring agency has resulted in expansion and
funding of five other locations in the state. TASC programs have been
set up in Enid, Lawton, McAlester, Muskogee, and Tulsa along with
continued operations in Oklahoma City. All six TASC projects are part
of a network administered by the TASC coordinating office.

During Fiscal Year 1982, approximately $1 million provided for an
administrative staff of three persons, and the establishment of the new
TASC sites.

1981

The Division of Probation and Parole provides community supervision
for offenders who are paroled from correctional facilities or are placed
on probation by the court. On an average day in FY 1981, 184 probation
and parole officers were supervising a total of 16,646 probationers;
2,398 parolees; and 1,818 offenders from other states, through the
Interstate Compact, with an average size caseload of 74 clients. The
Interstate Compact is a legally binding agreement which provides a
statutory mechanism for transferring probation and parole supervision
between states, providing the necessary criteria of employment and
residence are met.

This division is also responsible for conducting court ordered presentence
investigations. These investigations provide the court with
the most factual and complete information available regarding the
defendant, the offense, and what alternatives to incarceration are
available in the community. A total of 6,283 investigations were
completed by probation and parole officers in FY 1981. These
investigations included pre-sentence, pre-parole, pre-pardon, interstate,
and pre-employment.

The administrative offices for the Division of Probation and Parole are
located in Oklahoma City in the central office. The administrative staff
coordinates all field operations and supplies clerical support to the field.
Probation and parole services are provided through six district offices.
With the exception of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, which only serve two
counties, as many as 20 counties are served by some district offices.

Probation and Parole supervision is a very cost effective program for
the taxpayer in Oklahoma. Probation fees in the amount of $696,604
were collected by the Department of Corrections during the 1981 FY.
Monetary restitution in the amount of $588,972 was collected by the
Department of Corrections and $557,782 dispersed to victims.

During FY 1981 many innovative programs in the Division of Probation
and Parole were begun. Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime was on
the verge of statewide expansion, the National Institute of Corrections
Model Probation and Parole Supervision and Management System
Grant was awarded to the division. In addition, the parolee
mainstreaming program and the resource network system were begun.
The American Correctional Association began the process of auditing
the Division of Probation and Parole for Accreditation.

The comprehensive Mental Health Plan was developed by Dr. Armond
Start, medical director, in conjuction with the Department of Mental
Health. It calls for the opening of an 80 bed Intermediate Mental Health
Unit at Joseph Harp Correctional Center. This unit will provide care for
inmates discharged from Eastern State Hospital, attempting to reorient
them to general population. Chronic active treatment for inmates who
cannot function in the general population due to mental deficiencies
will also be provided.

1985

In November 1983 and January 1984, two laws became effective in
Oklahoma which require the Department of Corrections to develop and
submit sentencing plans for certain offenders to District Courts.
Offenders that are eligible are generally 18 to 21 year old nonviolent
offenders and/or offenders convicted of any felony and sentenced to
be incarcerated but who have not been incarcerated at any time in the
preceeding ten years. In the case of the nonviolent offender, the
department’s sentencing plan (which may be modified by the court)
actually becomes the court’s original order for the convicted offender.
Under the other category of eligible offenders, the department may
only recommend a modification in the sentencing court’s original order.

The court may or may not accept such a plan for modification in these
cases.

In order to develop Specialized Offender Accountability Plans (SOAP),
the Oklahoma Department of Corrections created an Intensive Services
Unit in each of its six probation and parole districts and at the Facility
Classification Unit at LARC. The basic purpose of the SOAP Program
is to ensure that each eligible offender is subject to an appropriate
degree of accountability for his or her behavior. The fundamental
premise is that punishment and treatment of offenders should be fair
and just to all concerned, including the victim and the community. Forms
of accountability include restitution, community supervision, substance
abuse and educational programs, employment and residential
stipulations.

On April 4, 1984, the governor signed the Oklahoma Prison
Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act. This act requires the Department
of Corrections to petition the Governor to declare a state of emergency
release when prison population exceeds the 95 percent capacity for 30
straight days. The Governor then has 15 days within which to make his
decision. If the Governor declares an emergency the Department of
Corrections grants 60 days earned credits to certain inmates. During
FY85 “cap” release was invoked five times and resulted in the early
release of 517 inmates. Although “cap” releases have an important
impact on the control of the prison population size, other alternatives
are preferable. Use of house arrest, under which inmates can be
released but still remain under the direct supervision of the Department
of Corrections, is a better option.

House arrest is a security level to provide intensive supervision of
inmates in the community prior to their eventual release. In 1980, the
Oklahoma Legislature enacted a law authorizing the Department of
Corrections to extend the limits of confinement for inmates. This law
allowed a broad range of activities and provided for the initial
implementation of house arrest. This statute enabled inmates to be on
leave from prison for emergency or medical situations, programmatic
reasons or for the extension of confinement to a home, halfway house
or other alternative confinement mode. In June of 1985, after the
procedures and the impact of an expanded security level had been
closely reviewed by the legislature, legislation was enacted which
provided specific authorization and criteria for the operation of the house
arrest security level.

Almost every inmate currently incarcerated in Oklahoma will eventually
be released from prison. Given this fact, how does the system attempt
to ensure that an inmate is successfully reintegrated into the community
in a manner that is compatible with public safety? Historically, the parole
system has functioned by releasing inmates into the community after a
period of incarceration. While on parole, the inmate is supervised by a
parole officer whose responsibilities include monitoring compliance with
parole stipulations, assisting in the reintegration process, and providing
a structure which will aid in keeping the parolee crime free.

In FY 80 parole accounted for approximately 48 percent of all inmates
released from prison in Oklahoma. However, in FY 85 parole accounted
for only 13.4 percent of all inmates released from prison.

Inmates released without supervision need only to be concerned with
being apprehended by law enforcement entities. Should they desire
assistance or support, whether it be for medical, counseling, financial
or other needs, they are on their own to obtain assistance.

1980

The number of lawsuits filed by inmates, the recent developments in
prisoner’s rights lawsuits, the continuing Battle v. Anderson litigation
and the growth of the number of Department employees and institutions
evidenced the need for legal advice which was readily available on a
daily basis at the Department of Corrections.

The Department attorney’s position is patterned after the California
system whereby the California Corrections Department uses in-house
counsel to render advice on a day-to-day basis, while the state attorney
general retains the authority to defend the department in court
proceedings.

During January, 1979, the attorney general’s office estimated that there
were approximately 360 inmate lawsuits pending against the
Department of Corrections, most of which were civil rights issues and
other habeas corpus actions.

The Affirmative Action Unit directs programs involving the recruitment
of minorities and women for openings throughout the Department.

During FY 79-80, the Affirmative Action Unit maintained a positive
recruitment program by establishing and maintaining continuing relations
with schools having a large number of minority groups and/or women
students.

The Affirmative Action Unit prepared studies regarding the evaluation
of the Affirmative Action Program, such as the percentage of minority
and women employees hired. Also, detailed reports were submitted to
the United States Civil Service Commission and other authorized
organizations for analysis.

Personnel Data
For FY ’79 & ’80


1979 - 1980
No. of Employees 1,935 - 2,225.
No. of Black Employees 187 - 227.
% of Black Employees 9.6 - 10.1.
No. of Minority Employees 293 - 369.
% of Minority Employees 15.5 - 16.5.
No. of Female Employees 535 - 688.
% of Female Employees 28.2 - 30.7.
No. of Case Managers 142 - 160 .
No. of Probation Officers 191 - 201 .
No. of Medical Employees 155 FT* to 147FT* - 24 PT* to 23 PT*.
No of Employees completing Correctional Officer Training 328 - 578.
_
*FT = Full Time
*PT = Part Time

From 1977 to 1980, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Health
Services has developed into a program that provides the institutional
population with a level of health care comparable to services available
to the general population. During this transformation period, the Health
Services’ budget has increased from $750,000 to $4.3 million. This
increased funding provides the financial support needed to expand
programs, services, and staffing available to the institutional population.
Staffing has increased from 33 employees in September 1977 to 177
at the present time with a licensed staff consisting of 5 doctors, 7 dentists,
7 psychologists, 14 registered nurses, and 12 physician assistants.

1978

The Central Personnel Unit coordinated a successful Comprehensive
Employment Training Act (CETA) program during FY 78. The program
provided 68 temporary positions throughout the department, which
enabled the department to implement new programs, improve existing
programs, and provide staff where understaffing was a problem. Forty
three of the CETA employees were transferred to permanent positions
with the department.

Another accomplishment was completion of the initial draft of the
Comprehensive Personnel Manual. The manual will serve as a training
tool for employees in the personnel unit. The Personnel Procedures
Manual will be published during the first half of FY 79.

With the adoption in 1977 of the Probation and Parole Field Officer’s
Manual, there was a need to develop a method of up-dating procedures
and of monitoring implementation of those procedures. A standing
manual revision committee, composed of field officers, supervisors,
and administrative staff, was created during the year. This committee
meets monthly to review and up-date the procedures outlined in the
Field Officer’s Manual. In order to assure uniform implementation of
probation and parole procedures, a group of officers were trained as
caseload auditors. Each month 25 percent of the cases in a probation
and parole district are audited for completeness, accuracy, and
procedural compliance.


TABLE OF PROBATION AND PAROLE OFFICES


DIVISION OFFICE District 1-B District 3
Deputy Director: Paul W. Inbody
Supervisor: John Schoonover
Supervisor: Art Hamilton
Location: 3400 North Eastern
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Assistant Deputy Director: Earl C. Brewer
Location: 4715 Southeast 29th Street
Del City, Oklahoma
—And—
3222 South Westen Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Location: 307 South Main McAlester, Oklahoma 74501
Location: 3400 North Eastern Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
No. of Asst. Supervisors: 2
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 24
No. of Asst. Supervisors:2
No. of Parole Officers:12

District 1-A District 1C District 4

Supervisor: Supervisor: Supervisor:
Wayne Long Kenneth Shipman Max Anderson
Location: Location: Location: 4901 North Lincoln 1219 North Classen P O Box 1003
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Duncan, Oklahoma 73533
—And—
1900 North MacArthur, Suite 1A
No. of Asst. Supervisors: 0
No. of Asst. Supervisors: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 2

Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 10
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 19
No. of Assistant Supervisors: 2
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 39 District 2 District 5

Supervisor: Calvin A. Vincent
Supervisor: Dayton Wagoner
Location: 440 S. Houston, Suite 401 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74127
Location:P.O. Box 298 Arnett, Oklahoma
No. of Asst. Supervisors:3
No. of Asst. Supervisors:2
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 44
Avg. No. of Parole Officers:13

TOTAL CASES UNDER SUPERVISION DURING FY ’76

I-A; I-B; II; III; IV; V; TOTAL.
Parole: 794; 501; 625; 163; 377; 158; 2,618.
Probation: 3,015; 2,203; 3,232; 740; 1,792; 1,121; 12,103.
Interstate Parole: 137; 51; 179; 48; 84; 40; 539.
Interstate Probation: 180; 103; 320; 73; 161; 80; 917.
Total: 4,126; 2,858; 4,356; 1,024; 2,414; 1,399; 16,177.





1969

The probation and parole officer is at the focal point of the entire
rehabilitative process. It is he/she alone who maintains constant and
individual contact with the offender. The responsibility for instilling moral
values and aiding in the restructuring of an offender’s life-style is
assumed by the officer. Moreover, since so many criminal offenders
are the products of low economic environments, the officer is often the
first personal associate with whom the offender has contact over a
prolonged period of time who is himself an educated, successful, law-
abiding citizen. Therefore, a good officer must establish an atmosphere
of relaxation and transmit feelings of empathy and understanding without
sacrificing the dignity of the supervision role.

Experts in the corrections field generally agree that some offenders
upon receiving probation or being released from prison, will become
and remain law-abiding citizens for the remainder of their lives. Others
will return to a life of crime and eventually to prison despite any and all
advantages offered them. For these two groups there is little benefit
which the officer can provide. However, for the vast majority of offenders,
the assistance, guidance, and counseling of the pobation and parole
officer are critical factors in determining the patterns of their lives and
the success or failure of their rehabilitation.

For this reason, the Division of Probation and Parole in the state of
Oklahoma is constantly striving to upgrade the quality of its officers. No
one factor of education, experience, personality or ability makes a good
officer. A careful combination of all these factors is required.

In order to obtain officers of such diverse talents, the division has
selected a staff from a diversity of backgrounds. When the department
began in July of 1967, of the 13 initial officers, only one had a college
degree. As 1970 begins, the department has 48 full-time officers,
seventeen of whom hold bachelor degrees in the social sciences, two
of whom also hold a master’s degree and a law degree respectively.
Officers range in age from 22 years to 68 years. The officers have
been formerly employed in such occupations as sheriffs, highway patrol,
local police officers, members of the military, ministers, lawyers, and
welfare and army caseworkers. As provisions are made for the hiring
of more officers to meet the demands of increasing caseloads and for
the increase of salaries to meet nation-wide professional standards,
the division will be able to increase steadily the quality of its staff. Many
attempts are being made to improve the ratio of degree-holders to the
entire staff. In addition, more qualified representatives of minority groups
are being sought in order to facilitate the successful supervision of a
total caseload heavily composed of minority group members.

An especially successful attempt to recruit Blacks into Probation and
Parole work is being conducted currently under the auspices of the
Concentrated Employment Program in Tulsa. Black persons of unusual
ability, but lacking in the required educational and vocational background,
are employed in district offices as probation and parole aides
and are receiving on-the-job training in the full range of functions
performed by regular officers. After the successful completion of four
years of such work, and upon the attainment of a passing score on the
Merit System competitive examination, the ordinary educational and
experience qualifications are attained and these people can be hired
as full-time probation and parole officers. A total of six aides are currently
working in the Oklahoma and Tulsa County district offices, and reports
of the district supervisors indicate that the aides are doing a superlative
job.

The addition of Blacks, Indians, and women to the staff of officers since
the department’s creation is providing unexpected benefits to
supervision. Minority-member offenders are showing marked increases
in positive response to rehabilitative supervision, although the officer
assigned to their case may not be of the same race or sex. The visual
impact of such officers on the force seems to indicate to the probationer
or parolee that the department as a whole is aware of and concerned
with the particular problems faced exclusively by members of these
groups.

The most dramatic institutional feature of the year 1969 was the
continuing population increase for all institutions and facilities. This
population increase is attributable to a variety of factors, among them a
tendency to impose longer sentences in several jurisdictions in
Oklahoma, upgraded probation services that increased possibilities of
revocation for those who would not conduct themselves acceptably in
the community, and a tendency to stress productive accomplishments
as a basis for consideration of release by parole throughout the system.
The net effect is to bring the population of our institutional system to a
point higher than has been at any point since the years immediately
preceding World War II. Over time, we expect that a peak will be reached
and that the population will be equalized, and that, when all programs
are operating at peak capacity, there will be a decline in the overall
institutional population compatible with the experience of other
jurisdictions.

Penologists are generally in agreement that the greatest problem in
institutional administration is to prevent idleness on the part of inmates
in the population. For a variety of reasons, the lack of productive activity
to occupy the time of inmates, not only has the potential for producing
real problems within the institutional community, but also is the antithesis
of personal improvement toward assuming a responsible position in
the free community upon release. By and large, maintenance, industrial,
and training functions make up the programs of the modern day
correctional institution.

A survey conducted during August and September, 1969, of Oklahoma’s
institutions revealed that 45.8 percent of the population at that time
was employed in maintenance activity, 40.8 percent worked at farm or
industrial jobs and 13.4 percent were in training assignments in the
institution. This reflects a top-heavy maintenance function at the
apparent expense of training services, and this is a condition which we
will strive to ameliorate over the next few years.


1970

In light of the tremendous success of the Oklahoma City center, federal
grants have been approved to expand this program during fiscal 1973
to include two additional centers. Mr. Lee C. Johnson, director of the
Oklahoma City Center will become the administrator in charge of
operating all three centers beginning on July 1, 1972.

Site selection is underway for a proposed center in the Tulsa area which
is to have a capacity of 35 residents. Employment and educational
opportunities will be similar to those already established in Oklahoma
City. Lawton has been chosen as the site of the third Center, also to
have a capacity of 35 residents. Employment will be obtained for
residents in the Lawton community. Staff training for this center has
already commenced.

Finally, plans are tentatively being formulated for grants to establish
three additional centers in metropolitan areas of Oklahoma in the near
future.

House Bill 1700, which created the Probation and Parole Fund, was
passed by the State Legislature and signed by the Governor in March
of 1972. This bill provided for the courts to impose a fee, not to exceed
$5.00 per month, as a condition of granting or continuing probation
services in either suspended or deferred—sentence cases.

Imposition of the fee is optional with the sentencing judge. The fee,
when imposed, will be collected by the district court clerks’ offices,
forwarded to the court administrator, and credited to the newly-created
probation arid parole fund. All monies collected will be used to defray
the expense of providing probation services in the state of Oklahoma.
It is anticipated that many district judges will impose such fees during
the next fiscal year and that the fund will greatly implement the Division
of Probation and Parole’s operations.

The publication of the Eye Opener, an inmate newspaper, serves a
variety of functions in the institutional setting. Not only does the inmate-
staff receive invaluable work experience in writing, editing, and
publishing a newspaper on their own, but the Eye Opener also provides
needed lines of communication among inmates and between the inmate
population and the world outside the walls. It plays a major part in
maintaining a high level of morale among inmates, who are afforded an
opportunity to express beliefs, convictions, and ideas in an acceptable
fashion.

Regular features of this award-winning penal publication include
editorials, articles on penal reform and prison programs, sports news,
a chess column, jokes, and a crossword puzzle. Inmate contributions
of poetry, prose, cartoons, and art are also included. Civilian
subscriptions to the Eye Opener, published once a month, are actively
solicited to help defray publication costs and to inform the public of
occurrences behind the walls.

Prior to July of 1970, prison art was little more than a means by which
an inmate could pass a little time until his sentence was served. In that
month, however, newspaperman Jenk Jones, Jr., managing editor of
the Tulsa Tribune, passed through the prison compound at McAlester,
intent upon another assignment, when he noticed some paintings
hanging in a makeshift gallery. Mr. Jones subsequently wrote a feature
story about the plight of a few convict-artists which aroused the interest
of members of the University of Tulsa Art Department, headed by Brad
Place. As a result, the Prison Art Program as it now exists began.

Monthly visits to the prison by Mr. Place and other artists who sometimes
accompany him began in September of 1970, when noted fine arts
authority Alexandre Hogue lectured to an initial group of four convict-
artists. Attendance has since risen at these meetings, in which are
conducted short lecture, briefing and grading sessions on work
completed during the preceding month.

1971

In February of 1971, the first student-inmates were received at the camp,
and training programs staffed and operated by the federal vo-tech
program began. Areas of study include air-conditioning and refrigeration,
automobile mechanics, specifically motor tune-up, front-end and brake
alignment, welding, and basic adult education.

1972

A major problem at the Women’s Wards has been the provision of
sufficient activities to occupy inmates’ idle time. Great strides, however,
are being made in this area. Plans are now being formulated to build a
new laundry at the New Women’s Ward to provide additional vocational
training for the female inmates. The purchase of modern laundry
equipment has already been effected.

In September of 1972, a hand-work program will be initiated which will
allow inmates to sell their crocheted and knitted articles through the
Penitentiary’s Souvenir Shop, and proceeds from these sales will be
deposited in each inmate’ s account for her release. Arrangements
have also been made for inmates to make doll clothes and dress
approximately 500 dolls through the Salvation Army’s annual Christmas
program for needy children.

1972

Lakeside School, the educational facility of the Reformatory, in operation
since 1949, is fully accredited by the Oklahoma Department of Education
and currently maintains a staff of 17 full-time employees: an
administrator, a teacher-vocational coordinator, an athletic director, a
clerk-librarian, and 13 certified teachers.

Current enrollment in the educational program consists of 160
elementary students, 220 secondary students, 160 vocational students,
30 adult basic education students, and 13 college-level students, for a
total enrollment of 583. However, since some inmates are enrolled in
an academic and vocational program simultaneously, this represents a
total of approximately 420 individuals.

1973

A probation and parole officer in Oklahoma is required to possess at
least a college degree in the social sciences or four years of successful,
full-time paid employment in probation and parole work, social work,
vocational counseling or law enforcement. A combination of the above
is accepted. After he is deemed qualified, an applicant must attain a
passing score on the State Merit System’s competitive examination.
Probation and parole officers are employed from the register provided
by the Merit System.

Each applicant is carefully screened by a thorough background
investigation and an interview to determine if he is able to establish
and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of people, to
organize and present facts and observations in clear, concise reports,
both written and oral, and to demonstrate stability and responsibility in
handling stressful situations. The screening board searches for an
applicant who can also organize his time and effort wisely and be
innovative enough to perform efficiently under adverse conditions.

The following lists the crops that were planted during Fiscal 1973 and
records the pounds distributed to McLeod and Stringtown; amounts
distributed to the Penitentiary were not available.


3 acres of Okra — 5,950 pounds.
5 acres of Tomatoes — 8,400 pounds.
1/2 acre of Radishes — 2,000 pounds .
5 acres of Watermelons — 24,800 pounds.
Irish Potatoes — 6,400 pounds.
Sweet Corn — 3,720 pounds.
Squash — 6,190 pounds.
Hay — 10,700 bales.
Silage —- 150 tons.
Combined for seed (oats, wheat, barley, rye) — 1,000 bushels.

A modern plasma building is available to accommodate the inmates
who wish to donate plasma; inmates from McLeod Honor Farm may
also use these accommodations. Donations are made on a voluntary
basis, and an inmate may donate weekly. Inmates who do make plasma
donations receive a payment of $5 for each donation.

After much discussion, a sight was selected for the second of
Oklahoma’s Community Treatment Centers. The Tulsa Community
Treatment Center was opened in January of 1973, and began receiving
inmates in February of that year.

After extensive remodeling, the top two floors of the John 3:16 Mission
were utilized to house all of the center’s operations. Renovation of the
center included the addition of kitchen and bathroom facilities, offices
an a recreational area. Inmate labor was utilized for all of the remodeling;
the cost for materials and professional services was over $28,000.
However, this facility was obtained on a lease for a cost of only $1 per
year to the State of Oklahoma.

The Tulsa Center operated with a minimum number of inmate-residents
until the end of Fiscal 1973.

Center visitation regulations permit residents’ families and friends to
visit between 9 am and 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Correspondence and visitation are encouraged by the centers’ staff to
allow the residents to establish and maintain close contact with family
and friends. These relationships may help to strengthen family ties
before an offender is released from the center.


1976

A major advantage of community corrections is the relatively low cost
of community supervision as compared to the cost of incarceration.
Offenders serving their sentences in the community are afforded the
opportunity to work and therefore can contribute to the support of
themselves and their families as well as pay state and federal taxes.
During FY 77, offenders in work release programs earned $4,275,486.79
in wages. Of this amount $459,079.47 was paid for room and board,
$223,839.58 went for support of inmates families, and $421,787.63
was placed into inmate savings accounts. In addition, $11,048.14 was
paid for state taxes, $120,014.26 for federal taxes, and $44,689.38 for
FICA.


1970

Statistical Analysis
Oklahoma State Penitentiary


CRIME RECEIVED CRIME RECEIVED

Abandonment 8. Indecent Exposure 9.

Aid Escape 3. Incest 1.

Arson 13. Kidnapping 14.

Adultry 0. Larceny (Petit) 33.

Assault to Commit Felony 3. Larceny of Animal 16.

Assault to Kill 23. Larceny of Automobiles 187.

Assault to Rape 6. Larceny from Person 9.

Assault w/Dang. Weapon 48. Larceny from House 0.

Att. Burglary 23. Leav. Scene of Accident 2.

Att. Forgery 2. Manslaughter 47.

Att. Robbery 5. Maming 1.

Att. Suicide 1. Molestation 12.

Bigamy 1. Murder 28.

Burglary 515. Obt. Prop. U/False Pret. 1.

Carr. Conc. Weapon 1. Passing Bogus Checks 97.

Carr. Firearms 28. Pandering 0 .

Child Beating 4. Possession of Marij 41.

Conc. Stolen Property. 2 Possession of Narc 20.

Confidence Game 0. Possession of Stolen Property 0.

Conc. Mortgage Property 1. Rape 27.

Defrauding Innkeeper 3. Receiving Stolen Property 41.

Crime Against Nature 1. Removing Mtg. Prop. 2.

Dest. Mortgage Property 3. Robbery, Conjoint 29.

Driving While Intoxicated 63. Robbery, 2nd Degree 41.

Dest. Public Property 1. Robberty w/Firearms 125.

Embezzlement 30. Taking Lib.w/Fem.Child 4.

Escape 19. Sodomy 7.

Extortion 0. Sale of LSD 2.

False Pretense 9. Sale of Barbituates 2.

Forfeit Bond 1. Shoot w/Int. to Injure 3.

Forgery 133. Shoot w/Int. to Kill 0.

Grand Larceny 171. U/U Motor Vehicle 12 .

Illegal Sale of Marij 8. Utt. Forg. Prescription 0.

Illegal Sale of Narc 5. Utt. Forg. Instrument 92.

Illegal Sale of Amph 0. Violation Liquor Law 4 .
TOTAL 2099


1977

TABLE OF PROBATION AND PAROLE OFFICES

DIVISION OFFICE
Deputy Director: Paul W. Inbody
Location: 3400 North Eastern, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Assistant Deputy Director: Earl C. Brewer

District I
Supervisor: John Schoonover
Location: 218 Northeast 4th, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
No. of Assistant Supervisors: 0
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 9

District II
Supervisor: Dayton Wagoner
Location: Location: 440 South Houston, Suite 401,Tulsa, Oklahoma 74127
No. of Assistant Supervisors: 3
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 46


District III
Supervisor: Art Hamilton
Location:
307 South Main
McAlester, Oklahoma 74501
No. of Assistant Supervisors:1
No. of Parole Officers: 12

District IV
Supervisor: Max Anderson
Location: P O Box 1003, Duncan, Oklahoma 73533
No. of Asst. Supervisors: 2
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 19

District V
Acting Supervisor: Gene Harmon
Location: 808 West Main, Enid, Oklahoma 73701
No. of Assistant Supervisors: 2
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 14

District VI
Supervisor: Leonard Clark
1411 North Classen, Suite 256, Oklahoma City, OK 73106
No. of Assistant Supervisors: 2
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 40

District VII
Supervisor: Judy Reed
Location:
5350 South Western
Oklahoma City, OK 73106
No. of Assistant Supervisors: 2
Avg. No. of Parole Officers: 27


Community Treatment Centers

OKLAHOMA CITY CTC
Superintendent John Herdt
Year Established 1970
Capacity 110
Staff Size 22

TULSA CTC
Superintendent Larry Fields
Year Established 1973
Capacity 74
Staff Size 19

ENID CTC
Superintendent Lee Semones
Year Established 1974
Capacity 46
Staff Size 14

LAWTON CTC
Superintendent T.G. Byrns
Year Established 1973
Capacity 55
Staff Size 15

MUSKOGEE CTC
Superintendent H. C. Anderson
Year Established 1974
Capacity 36
Staff Size 14

OKLAHOMA CITY SUNTIDE INN CTC
Superintendent Jerry Johnson
Year Established 1977
Capacity 100
Staff Size 20

TULSA HORACE MANN (MEN)
Superintendent Jerry Maddox
Year Established 1977
Capacity 100
Staff Size 21

TULSA HORACE MANN (Women)
Superintendent (Acting) Blanche Snow
Year Established 1977
Capacity 35
Staff Size 11