DALLAS — Overcrowding in Oklahoma prisons could be relieved with proceeds from a proposed $310 million bond issue that would add 4,000 new beds at eight correctional facilities across the state.
Sen. Richard Lerblance, D-Hartshorne, filed a measure on Tuesday that would authorize the Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Authority to issue up to $309.6 million of 25-year lease revenue bonds to finance expansion and renovation efforts at various correctional facilities. The facilities would then be leased to the Department of Corrections, with debt service on the bonds supported by lease payments provided through annual legislative appropriations.
Lerblance said the additional prison space outlined in his proposal, SB 1137, is necessary to keep up with steady increases in Oklahoma’s prison population caused by tougher laws and stricter sentencing guidelines enacted by state lawmakers.
“Government’s greatest moral obligation is to ensure the safety and well-being of its citizens, and that includes making certain we are keeping criminals off the streets,” Lerblance said. “It is simply irresponsible to pass laws that will increase Oklahoma’s prison population and then not fund the bed space to hold these criminals.”The number of additional prison beds in the proposal reflect estimates by the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center of growth in state prisons over the next few years, according to the senator.
“There will be some legislators in this building who will say we can’t afford to spend additional money to add space to our prisons,” Lerblance said. “That is simply irresponsible rhetoric at best. It is time for the Legislature to take a responsible stand to make certain our communities are safe, and that includes finding the political will to put real dollars behind this public safety initiative.”
The 2008 Legislature will convene Feb. 24 and must recess by May 30.
Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie said state prisons are filled to capacity, with little room for additional prisoners.
“We have room for about 25,000 prisoners, and we fluctuate between 97% and 98% of capacity,” he said. “We expect to add another 800 to 900 prisoners this year.”
A recently released audit of the department said Oklahoma’s prison population is higher than in similar states because of a low parole rate and longer prison terms.
Oklahoma is the only state in the nation in which the governor must sign off on every inmate parole approved by the parole board. In 2006, only about 18% of eligible inmates were granted parole, compared to about 30% in Texas and 56% in Pennsylvania.
Since 1999, the Legislature has adopted sentencing policies that require those convicted for any of 19 violent offenses to serve at least 85% of their sentence. The offenses include murder, rape, burglary, arson, and child molestation.
The largest project in Lerblance’s bill calls for adding 1,568 maximum security beds to the main state penitentiary in McAlester at a cost of $176.3 million. Other major efforts include $33.6 million for 600 medium-security beds at a prison in Helena, and $21.6 million for 300 medium-security beds at a facility in Hominy.
Sen. Jeff Rabon, D-Hugo, who is proposing a separate $176 million bond package to build a new prison in his district, said the state has a responsibility to house prisoners sentenced for violations of state law.
“I’m not one of these people who want to lock ’em up and throw away the key, but if that is our state’s policy, we have to have some place to put them,” Rabon said. “Something’s got to give.”
The state does not have the money to build prisons from general fund revenues, Rabon said, so long-term debt financing is the only feasible approach.
“A bond issue is the only option,” he said. “We don’t have the cash.”
Rabon said he has outlined his plan to Gov. Brad Henry.
“The governor was very interested because the debt service for bonds to build new prisoners is just a fraction of the cost of paying private prisons a daily rate to house our prisoners,” he said. “It’s a no-brainer.”
Rabon said Henry was “open-minded and receptive, and said he would weigh all the options” in developing his proposed budget for fiscal 2009.
