Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Agency overview
Formed	May 8, 1967
Preceding agency	Oklahoma Commissioner of Charities and Corrections
Headquarters	3400 Martin Luther King Avenue Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Employees	4,341 classified 367 unclassified
Annual budget	$ 618 million
Ministers responsible	Michael C. Thompson, Secretary of Safety and Security David C. Henneke, Chair of the Board
Agency executive	Robert Patton, Director
Parent agency	Oklahoma State Board of Corrections
Website	Oklahoma Department of Corrections

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC or ODOC) is an agency of the state of Oklahoma. DOC is responsible for the administration of the state prison system. It has its headquarters in Oklahoma City,^[1] across the street from the headquarters of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety.

The Department of Corrections is governed by the seven-member Board of Corrections. All members are appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma, with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate, to serve six-year terms. Each of Oklahoma's five Congressional districts is represented by at least one member on the Board, with the remaining two members being appointed from the State at-large. No more than four members of the Board may be from any one political party. The Board is responsible for setting the policies of the Department, approve the annual budget request, and for appointing the Director of Corrections. The Director, who serves at the pleasure of the Board, is the chief executive of the Department. The current Director of Corrections is Robert Patton.^[2]

The Department of Corrections was established in 1967 during the term of Governor Henry Bellmon.

History

Prior to 1908, Oklahoma would send prisoners to the Kansas Penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas. After a disputed report on the conditions in the Kansas Penitentiary, Oklahoma opened an institution in the former federal jail in McAlester.^[3]

On January 10, 1967, Oklahoma created a new state Corrections Department, consisting of a State Board of Corrections, State Director of Corrections, and three divisions: a Division of Institutions, a Division of Probation and Parole, and a Division of Inspection.^[3]

In 1976, the first Training Academy was established in Oklahoma City.^[3]

Facilities

Oklahoma State Penitentiary

As of 2010, the Department of Corrections is responsible for the management, maintenance and security of 39 correctional institutes across the State.

Organization

Leadership

The Department of Corrections is under the supervision of the Oklahoma Secretary of Safety and Security. Under current Governor of Oklahoma Mary Fallin, Michael C. Thompson is serving as the Secretary.

Internal Structure

The internal structure of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections is as follows:^[4]

• Cabinet Secretary of Safety and Security
• Board of Corrections
  • Director
    • Associate Director - Field Operations
      • Division Manager - Field Support
      • Division Manager - West Institutions
      • Division Manager - East Institutions
      • Division Manager - Community Corrections
    • Associate Director - Administrative Operations
      • Division Manager - Health Services
      • Chief Administrator - Business Services
      • Chief Administrator - Analytics and Systems Quality Services
      • Chief Administrator - Employee Services
      • Chief Administrator - Program Services
      • Administrator - General Services
      • Administrator - Community Sentencing
    • General Counsel
    • Inspector General
    • Director - Internal/External Communications

Divisions

The Department of Corrections is governed by the seven-member Board of Corrections, who appoints the Director of Corrections. As the head of the Department of Corrections, the Director supervises, directs, and controls the Department. The Director is assisted in managing the Department by an Associate Director, six Deputy Directors and a General Counsel (with the rank of Deputy Director).

• Administrative Services Division - responsible for all financial, budgeting, personnel, purchasing, information technology and administrative management needs of the Department

• Internal Affairs Division - responsible for conducting and monitoring all international criminal investigations of inmates and Department employees, including fugitive apprehension

• Employee Development and Offender Services Division - responsible for offender programs, offender medical services, offender mental health, offender education, and Departmental staff training

• Community Corrections Division - responsible for the operation of five male community corrections centers, fifteen offender work centers, and statewide probation and parole operations

• Community Sentencing and Offender Information Services Division - responsible for the Community Service Sentencing Program, thirty-six statewide planning councils, and Departmental grant administration

• Field Operations Division
  • Division II (Minimum Facilities) and Division III (Medium and Maximum Facilities) are responsible for fifteen prisons across the state which house male prisoners, manages all contracts for private prisons and county jails, and supervises all prison industries programs
  • Division I (Female Operations) is responsible for two prisons across the state which house female prisoners and two female community correction centers

Rank structure

Title	insignia	Description
Director of the Department	No insignia	Appointed by the Board of Corrections to serve as the overall head of the department
Associate Director Field Operations	No insignia	Appointed by the Director to oversee all correctional services in the department and second-in-command for the department
Division Manager Institutions Division	No insignia	Oversees all correctional institutions or community placement centers in their division.
Warden	No insignia	Responsible for all operations of an institution
Deputy Warden	No insignia	Second-in-command of an institution
Chief of Security III		Responsible for overseeing all security operations of a medium or maximum security institution
Chief of Security II		Responsible for overseeing all security operations of a minimum-security institution
Chief of Security I		Responsible for overseeing all security operations of a community or work center.
Captain		Responsible for overseeing all operations of an assigned shift within a medium or maximum security facility.
Lieutenant		First managerial rank, responsible for overseeing all operations on an assigned shift within a community corrections, work center or minimum security facility or supervising specialized unit in a medium or maximum security facility
Sergeant		First supervisory rank, responsible for serving as a team leader or a lead officer or independently performing a specialized function requiring a high degree of judgment
Corporal		Responsible for assisting lower-ranked Officer in the performance of their duties
Officer		CSO II attained upon successful completion of the training academy, responsible for security and custody of inmates
Cadet		A CSO I is a new recruit, and is the rank held by all personnel while assigned as a student at the training academy.

Personnel

Staffing

The Department of Corrections, with an annual budget of over $500 million, is one of the largest employers of the State. For fiscal year 2012, the Department was authorized 4,113 employees.^[5]

Requirements

As provided by Oklahoma state law, in order to be employed as a correctional officer for the Department of Corrections, an individual must meet the following requirements:^[6]

• At least 20 years old
• Have completed one of the following educational components:
  • at least 30 semester hours from a college or university; or
  • a high school diploma and a certification by the Oklahoma Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training
• Be a person of "good moral character"
• Completion of a correctional officer training program, as approved by the State Board of Corrections
• Completion of minimum testing or professional evaluation conducted by the Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management
• Completion, on an annual basis, of physical testing as required for the position, as approved by the State Board of Corrections

Promotions

All promotions from Corrections Officer into the supervisory ranks are based on tests administered by the Director of the Department, in consultation with the Administrator of the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services's Human Capital Management Division. These tests determine the physical and mental qualifications and all potential test-takers must satisfactorily complete a course of training in operations and procedures related to the rank desired.

In general, the following minimum requirements are needed to obtain the following ranks:

• Corporal - eighteen months of experience in correctional or security work
• Sergeant - two years of experience in correctional or security work
• Lieutenant - three years of experience in correctional or security work
• Captain - four years of experience in correctional or security work with one year of supervisory experience
• Chief of Security -
  • Community Correctional Facility - four years of experience in correctional or security work with one year of supervisory experience or two years of college, two years of correctional experience with one year of supervisory experience
  • Minimum Security Facility - five years of experience in correctional or security work with one year of supervisory experience or two years of college, three years of correctional experience with one year of supervisory experience
  • Medium or Maximum Security Facility - five years of experience in correctional or security work with one year of supervisory experience or two years of college, three years of correctional experience with two years of supervisory experience

Pay Structure

The annual salaries of the ODOC correctional officers are set by the classification standards established by the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services's Human Capital Management Division, the state government's central personnel office. Each classification is assigned by OMES a salary band based upon the uniform Salary Schedule for State Employees.^[7] As of 2014, the followings for such employees are as follows:

The executive and administrative staff of the Department are unclassified employees of the State, and as such, their salaries are determined either by the Legislature or by the Director of the Department. As of October, 2010, the following are the annual salaries of the senior staff of the Department:^[8]

Prohibitions

Oklahoma state and United States federal law both place limitations on who can be employed as a correctional officer with the Department. They include any of the following:^[9]

• No person who is a registered sex offender
• No person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, unless they have received a full pardon for such crime
• No person who has been convicted of any form of felony, unless they have received a full pardon for such felony
• No person who has been convicted of any form of domestic violence, unless they have received a full pardon for such crime
• No person who has been dishonorably discharged from any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States

Budget

The Department of Corrections has annual budget of over $500 million. That budget is derived primarily from yearly appropriations, Departmental fees and funds generated by the Prison Industries activities.^[5] For Fiscal Year 2014, 88% of the Department's budget comes from yearly appropriations, 6% from the Prison Industries Fund, 4% from the Department's Revolving Fund, and 3% from all other sources.

Death row

The execution chamber is located at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.^[10]

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, 16 officers have died in the line of duty.^[11]

See also

• List of United States state correction agencies
• List of law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma

References

External links

• Oklahoma Department of Corrections website

State law enforcement agencies of Oklahoma Governor of Oklahoma Attorney General Secretary of Safety and Security ABLE Commission Bureau of Narcotics Council on Firefighter Training Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training Department of Corrections Department of Emergency Management Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol Highway Safety Office Office of Homeland Security District Attorneys Council Indigent Defense System Board Office of the Attorney General Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Office of the State Fire Mashal State Board of Pharmacy State Bureau of Investigation Pardon and Parole Board