Prison Warning Issued

Monday, August 13th 2007, 6:58 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The head of the state Department of Corrections says the state's prison system is in crisis. Justin Jones says in a newsmaker interview with The Associated Press that overcrowding is at the most critical point its been in in his 30 years working at the Department of Corrections.

Jones is calling for new prisons to be built and to renovate existing facilities. And Jones says the state should be cautious about sending large numbers of inmates to private prisons because if the prison shut down there could be up to 2,000 inmates with no place to keep them.

Jones says the state prisons are already so crowded that if there were a disaster such as a tornado or fire he has no backup beds to house inmates.