Proposal For Rader Center Improvements

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A proposed settlement with the U.S. Justice Department calls for Oklahoma to improve safety and suicide prevention at its only maximum security prison for juveniles.

The 30-page agreement outlines 90 requirements to improve conditions at the L.E. Rader Center in Sand Springs. More than 1,200 assaults were reported at the facility in a recent three-year span.

The settlement was submitted yesterday and it still requires approval from U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell in Tulsa.

The agreement comes more than four years after the Justice Department announced it would investigate the Rader Center after allegations of improper conditions in confining juveniles.

The state Office of Juvenile Affairs says many of the improvements proposed in the settlement are already being addressed using a $2 million special appropriation from the Legislature this year.