The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is asking state lawmakers for $1.57 billion next year.
The State Board of Corrections unanimously approved DOC's 2020 budget request on Tuesday at its meeting in Vinita. The request includes $884 million to build and expand facilities that can acommodate 5,200 more inmates, $91.7 million to treat inmates with hepatitis C, and $18.5 million for staff raises.
"This request is not a wish list. This is what we need. Oklahoma continues to send more people to prison, and it costs real money to house, look after, and provide those individuals medical care — all of which we are required to do," DOC Director Joe Allbaugh said in a statement.
This is not the first budget request of more than $1 billion Allbaugh has submitted. Last year, DOC requested $1.53 billion and received $517 million from lawmakers. That request included funding for two new medium-security prisons and for maintenance and repairs.
DOC was approved for a $116.5 million bond issue for prison projects. The agency's 2020 budget request says it has $31.9 million in additional needed work at Jackie Brannon Correctional Center and Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
The agency reports it has more than 3,000 inmates infected with hepatitis C and has never received funding for treatment. DOC also wants to increase correctional officers' pay from $13.74 an hour to $14.74 to deal with staffing shortages.
