The Oklahoma Department of Corrections wants $1,570,000,000.00 for the next fiscal year including $844,000,000.00 to add 5,200 beds, $91,700,000.00 for inmate hepatitis C treatment, $31,900.000.00 for facility repairs, maintenance and other needs, and $18,500,000.00 million for staff pay raises.

Last week, the Oklahoma Board of Corrections unanimously approved, according to board chairman State Rep. Bobby Cleveland.

“After six years of visiting prisons throughout our state and serving as the chairman of the House Public Safety Committee, I applaud Director Joe Allbaugh’s request,” said Cleveland, R-Slaughterville. “It is time we stop kicking this can down the road and fund our prisons properly. It’s a safety issue for corrections officers and staff and for prisoners who the state is obligated to care for during the terms of their incarceration.”

Cleveland said more lawmakers need to take up the charge to fight for higher salaries for corrections workers. He also wants them to continue to focus on meaningful reforms that will reduce the state’s prison population and return rehabilitated people to their families and to the work force.

“If we’re going to continue to incarcerate record numbers of our fellow citizens, then we can at least have proper facilities to house and care for them,” he said. “We also must pay our prison guards a better salary. These men and women put their lives on the line for their fellow Oklahomans every day. They make less than if they worked at a local convenience store, and yet we ask them to do one of the toughest jobs in the state.”