Senate Passes Measure to Create a Safer Oklahoma

Vote on HB 2288 Ends Months of Senate Work on DOC Funding Crisis

The Oklahoma State Senate passed a measure today that will help create a safer Oklahoma by infusing funds into the cash-strapped Department of Corrections (DOC). Senator Corn, who is carrying House Bill 2288 in the Senate, said the measure will allow DOC to immediately hire additional correctional officers and probation and parole officers and gives a $2800 pay raise to most all DOC employees.

“This is an issue the Senate has worked tirelessly on throughout the summer and fall,” Corn said. “The Legislature has no greater obligation than to keep our citizens safe and this measure allows us to do just that.”

Corn said HB 2288 is a supplemental appropriation bill that allows the DOC to operate in the black for the remainder of this fiscal year. He said the bill is a step in the right direction, but there is more work to be done to ensure that all public safety agencies receive the funding they need to keep all Oklahomans safe.

“We cannot allow inadequate staffing at state prisons to cripple correctional officer’s ability to keep themselves and Oklahoma communities safe,” Corn, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary said. “Because this bill allows DOC to address staffing problems, it is a crucial victory for the public safety of all Oklahomans.”

Corn explained that members of the Senate spent the summer and fall traveling the state to view conditions inside Oklahoma prisons. The Senate also met in Special Session in late August in an attempt to end the prison crisis by appropriating $11 million to the Department of Corrections.

“Today’s vote on HB 2288 represents the months of hard work done in the Senate to get DOC the money they need to do their jobs,” Corn said. “It has been a long road, and I could not be more proud of this bi-partisan agreement that will truly help us fulfill the moral obligation we have to ensure the safety of all our citizens.”