TULSA — Oklahoma State Representative Justin Humphrey, a Republican from Lane, says he feels he should be able to obtain information on things like staffing levels, violent incidents, or health concerns inside the state’s prisons.
After all, he chairs the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee, and sits on the Appropriations and Budget Committee for Public Safety as well.
[Hear the KRMG In Depth Report on the DOC interim study HERE]
Still, he claims, the Department of Corrections refuses to even produce data which should be easily measurable and carefully tracked.
“How many people have died, what did they really die of?” he asked, rhetorically as he spoke with our KRMG reporter Monday. “How many people’ve been stabbed?”
He says the DOC either will not answer questions, or produces answers which don’t jibe with reports he’s getting from other sources.
He’s called for an interim legislative study to try and bring these issues to the attention of his fellow lawmakers.
He believes many of the problems stem from the overarching issue of staffing, which the DOC admits is well below what they’d like to have.
“We have the worst numbers in the United States,” Humphrey told KRMG, based on reports from the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons.
The DOC disputes that claim, but because it doesn’t actually share its staffing levels publicly, it’s been difficult to determine the truth of the matter.
And that is another reason, Humphrey says, for an interim study.
It’s also about finding actual solutions, he added.
“A lot of times you’ll use an interim study to bring attention to an issue in the state,” he said. “And your ultimate goal should be - how are we going to fix that issue? And normally, that is going to be through some legislative means.”
Contacted for a response, Kay Thompson at the Department of Corrections pointed out that it’s difficult to respond to an interim study which hasn’t yet been conducted.
She does dispute Humphrey’s characterization of the DOC’s responses to his inquiries, and has stated in the past that her agency has provided information to the lawmaker on several occasions.
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