Senator Boggs comments on DOC pay raise, says more work needed to raise pay of correctional officers

Senator Larry Boggs welcomed the news that the Department of Corrections (DOC) will give one-time stipends of $1,750 to agency employees, saying the move builds upon the success of a 2014 bill that provided recurring pay raises to correctional officers and other state employees.

“I appreciate this move by the Board of Corrections and Director Joe Allbaugh to help the hardworking, professional men and women who serve in the Department of Corrections. It builds upon the work we’ve done in the Legislature to help raise the pay of correctional officers,” said Boggs, R-Red Oak.  “The one-time stipend helps DOC employees just like the annual raises we got correctional officers in 2014. Correctional officers at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and other state facilities have an important, dangerous, and difficult job. There’s more work that needs to be done to get the pay of correctional officers to where it needs to be, and I’ll keep fighting in the Oklahoma Senate to ensure correctional officers are paid what they deserve.”

In 2014, the Legislature passed and the governor signed into law Senate Bill 2131, which provided pay raises for the lowest-paid state employees. Under SB 2131, correctional officers at the DOC saw pay raises of between 6.25 percent and 8 percent.