Prison homicides twice as high as previously reported, new state numbers show
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The number of recent homicides in Oklahoma prisons is twice as high as previously reported, new data from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections show. The number of homicides puts Oklahoma near the top of the region in inmate killings.
Instead of the 14 homicides reported by the state's District Attorneys Council — a required report to the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance — records obtained from the department show at least 29 inmates died by homicide from 2019 to 2023. Corrections Department officials say they are investigating another 28 inmate deaths from 2023, but the cause of those deaths has yet to be determined.
Homicide is the fourth-leading cause of inmate death in Oklahoma, excluding executions.
Emily Barnes, founder of the criminal justice advocacy group Hooked on Justice, said she thinks the numbers of inmate killings are still "way off."
Barnes said she receives five to 10 calls a week from inmates reporting violent incidents and deaths in state facilities. "I think we have a lot more deaths that they are covering up," she told The Oklahoman.
As an example, she shared questions with The Oklahoman about two new deaths she had learned about. Barnes said part of the Corrections Department's responsibility is to protect people inside, but they’re not doing their job.
Corrections Department officials dispute that. They acknowledge all jails and prisons have some level of violence, but say prison staff goes to great lengths to reduce all threats as quickly and safely as possible.
Record-high reports of inmate deaths, homicides at Oklahoma prisons
Still, problems in the state's corrections system continue. Records show a high number of inmate deaths — and homicides — at state prisons. At least 590 inmates died in the system from 2019 to 2023, with 20 more deaths in 2024 as of Feb. 21. Two of the deaths from this year, the department reported, were from natural causes. The remaining 18 are still under investigation.
The Lawton Correctional Facility and the Allen Gamble Correctional Center in Holdenville (formerly Davis Correctional Center) each reported eight homicides in the five-year period. Dick Conner Correctional Center followed with five.
According to the federal report, Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, Oklahoma's mortality rate was 396 per 100,000 deaths in state and federal prisons, and that excludes executions. It's higher than the national average of 330 per 100,000 deaths in 2019. For comparison, Texas' rate is 307, while Kansas has a rate of 358. The state also had the second-highest average annual rate of homicide, at 14 per 100,000. That's second to South Carolina, which had a rate of 15. The number of deaths has risen since 2019, where the Sooner State recorded a total of 100 deaths.
Corrections officials say they have made improvements. In January, Corrections Department Executive Director Steven Harpe said he had proactively found efficiencies that protected the taxpayers’ dollars through innovations, including upgrading technology and streamlining operational processes, thus allowing for a flat budget request for the next fiscal year, as requested by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
"It is our responsibility to ensure we take care of those incarcerated in our system while adhering to a strict budget. By embracing forward-thinking approaches, ODOC can become a more efficient and effective correctional system while still protecting public safety,” Harpe said in a statement. “That is why I set this goal, to modernize our processes and to serve our employees and inmates better.”
More: Oklahoma state prisons plagued by violence, one of the highest homicide rates in the nation
Homicides are part of a trifecta of issues that continues to plague the department: deaths, violent incidents and lack of staff.
And it's those issues that continue to draw the scrutiny of state lawmakers.
State Rep. Mauree Turner previously worked as the regional field director in Oklahoma’s Campaign for Smart Justice, an American Civil Liberties Union initiative focusing on criminal justice reform and its many intersections.
"In order to get something different, we need to do something different," said Turner, an Oklahoma City Democrat.
Turner said the loss of any life in a prison due to violence is one too many and not something the Corrections Department should stay silent about.
“I think what we’ve done not only in Oklahoma but in America is make our prisons a place for revenge rather than any other type of rehabilitation,” Turner said. “From what I can see is that any person who ends up in our prison or jail, the thing that they’re most guilty of is that they came in contact with law enforcement officers before they came in contact with resources ... whether that was mental health resources or affordable and accessible housing, accurate public education.”
Turner said the corrections system has problems recruiting staff because of low pay and its work environment.
“I think Oklahomans are consistently overworked and underpaid, and when you put people (who) are overworked and underpaid to take care of people ... it’s a recipe for disaster,” the lawmaker said.
Turner isn't the only state legislator who is concerned. The two state officials who have been vocal about problems in the Corrections Department — state Reps. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, and Danny Williams, R-McLoud — said issues of safety for both inmates and for corrections department staff are concerning.
Humphrey said he receives about 30 to 40 calls a week from inmates, inmates’ families and former employees. Humphrey told The Oklahoman he has contacted the department, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, the governor, the Senate pro tem and the House speaker, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Justice Department.
However on March 27, Kay Thompson, Corrections Department chief of media relations, said the department's Inspector General's office said it had not received any documents from Humphrey nor any outside law enforcement agency. During a legislative hearing that same day, Humphrey repeated his concerns about an increase in violence. He cited reports of sexual assaults, lack of staff and said the Corrections Department was not being truthful about what has been happening in the state's prisons.
“[There’s] a large amount of Oklahoma citizens in our custody and for these things to go on, I think we have to address [it],” he said.
As of April 1, there were 18,836 people in prisons across all levels of security, according to the state Corrections Department's weekly count.
During the hearing, Rep. Williams said he was concerned about conditions at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud, where he lives. He said an inmate was allegedly raped by an officer at the prison and that it was experiencing low staff levels.
“It’s serious, and it’s real,” Williams said.
Thompson acknowledged the incident. She said a Tulsa-area television station received video of the assault and was recorded on a cellphone.
"Once we received that video, that's pretty much all that we needed," she said. "Within four hours of receiving that video, we had him (the officer accused of committing the assault) arrested and booked."
A spokesperson for the prison in Lawton — the only privately operated prison in Oklahoma — The Geo Group Inc., of Boca Raton, Florida, said in an email that it is “... committed to taking all necessary steps, including the authorized use of overtime to adhere to daily staffing requirements ...” Other questions were referred to the Corrections Department.
Is staffing a big part of the prison problem?
Though corrections officials will acknowledge the problem of violence in state prisons, they speak less about staffing levels. So far, the Corrections Department has declined — for security reasons — repeated requests from The Oklahoman and other media organizations for data on the number of correctional officers compared to the number of prisoners at each state prison.
However, other state records obtained by The Oklahoman paint a less-than-flattering picture of the agency's inmate-to-correctional-officer ratio. Records from the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency show there was an average of about 16 inmates for each authorized correctional officer position as of the end of June 2023. There were 224 vacant positions for correctional officers.
Transparent Oklahoma Performance — a state-operated website — listed 3,689 part-time and full-time employees at the Corrections Department as of January 2024. The site was unclear as to whether the number reflected actual people working or authorized positions that might be unfilled.
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Barnes, from Hooked on Justice, said a lack of staff contributes to violence and deaths. “A lot of this violence is going on because unfortunately DOC is very understaffed right now,” she said.
LOFT conducted an operational assessment of the prison system in 2022. After analyzing five years of Serious Incident Reports across five facilities, the agency reported a strong negative correlation between staffing levels and inmate violence incidents at four of them.
According to the report: “While the relationship is not linear, there appears to be a critical point where the number of COs (corrections officers) becomes too low to manage the inmate population, which could result in a rise in violence.”
The report found the Corrections Department's greatest operational challenge was its staffing levels for correctional officers. It said facilities were usually staffed below 50% of the needed level. It said the number of correctional officers declined 8.71% from FY17 to FY21.
The report noted the Corrections Department was under supervision by a federal district court from the early 1970s through the early 2000s, due to civil rights violations. In 1972, U.S. District Court Judge Luther Bohanon took control of the state's prison system and forced sweeping changes.
The LOFT report said staffing shortages were a driver of bad conditions during that period because there were too few correctional officers available to maintain safety and discipline unless inmates were kept in cells most of each day.
The report said the same conditions were re-emerging in the corrections system.
Several national reports indicate Oklahoma is struggling to keep its Corrections Department adequately staffed. However, the number of Corrections Department staff varies from report to report.
The Bureau of Justice Statistic’s Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities said the state confinement ratio in midyear 2019 was 7 to 1. The same report said there were 2,436 security staff in 18 of Oklahoma’s prisons and 17,605 inmates in midyear 2019, a ratio of seven inmates to every correctional officer.
Yet another report shows different numbers.
Data compiled in the 2022 Census of Governments Public Employment and Payroll, shows that Oklahoma had 3,989 part-time and full-time staff positions in March 2022, a drop from March 2021’s number of 4,983, placing Oklahoma fourth in region in the number of full-time and part-time staff positions.
Thompson, the department's spokesperson, said several strategies have been implemented to reduce attrition and attract new employees. Competitive salaries, enhanced health benefits and paid college for advancing education have been part of that effort, she said.
Thompson said an inmate survey to identify areas needing improvement was still under review. However, she said inmates have given the system high marks on its services and programs, including religion and education. She said cadets (new employees being trained) are graduating every few months and bolstering prison staffs.
Thompson said a "culture change" initiative launched by Harpe had reduced attrition throughout the system, although at a February hearing held by Humphrey's House committee, three former employees alleged the existence of a "culture of fear" under Harpe.
Gangs and prison contraband cause prison violence, department says
Corrections Department officials maintain that staffing levels aren't causing prison violence. They attribute homicides and injuries to gang activity and contraband, something they say they are working hard to reduce. Those efforts include revised policies and procedures, new technology, regular sweeps of inmate cells, and separating rival gang members have eased the risk and located weapons, drugs and cellphones, they say.
“Supervising 23,000 inmates, some who are extremely dangerous, is a monumental task. Again, it is our primary duty to protect our staff, the offenders and the public. It’s a responsibility we do not take lightly,” the department said in an email to The Oklahoman.
Thompson said the department has expanded its Contraband Interdiction Unit to keep items such as cellphones and drugs from entering facilities. She said the department works with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control to help fight drug operations on the streets, which reduces the number of drugs in the facilities.
Beyond staffing levels and strategic changes, the department relies on its programs to “change lives,” which is part of the department’s motto, she said.
There are about 10 different programming areas that help educate inmates, some of which include substance abuse, behavioral changes, high school and college education, vocational training and intervention programs. Others include learning future career skills such as cosmetology, food service, carpentry and welding, among others.
Thompson said about 130 employees work in programs, not including contractors or volunteers. Other programs and pro-social activities are run by volunteer organizations at no cost to the agency. The department’s budget for programs is about $2.76 million, not including salaries and benefits.
“All our programs adhere to evidence-based practices designed to reduce recidivism. Success also depends on the individual’s effort while in the program,” she said.
Editor's note: A graphic attached to this story has been updated to reflect the correct number of deaths in Oklahoma prisons in 2023.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Homicides in Oklahoma are third-leading cause of death
