DOC suspends contract with Shattuck after allegations of inmate misuse

SHATTUCK, Okla. (AP) -- The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has suspended its contract with Shattuck after the town of about 1,500 allegedly misused inmate labor from the William S. Key Correctional Center.

"Obviously, we will not have a work crew there in Shattuck,"

DOC spokesman Jerry Massie said Monday. "We've canceled the crew and have no plans to reinstate them."

The minimum-security prison supplied the town with as many as four inmates daily.

Town Attorney Gerald Thomas said the community has had to adjust to not having inmate labor.

"We've had to do without (the inmates) for a while. I guess if we have to do without them, we'll learn to do without them," he said.

The allegations were detailed in a state fire marshal's report.

A report was made after inspectors questioned the use of an inmate to install electrical wiring at sites across town.

The report stated that town employees saw unsupervised inmates using town telephones, computers and city vehicles. In addition, the report said that an inmate installed electrical wiring for the town, the school system and a church, and that an inmate had access to a town pickup truck with a loaded shotgun inside.

The fire marshal's report also said that inmates used the Internet to make purchases and print pornography, and receive mail at the city offices.

Regulations for municipalities using inmate workers state that inmates cannot use a telephone for personal calls or send and receive mail.

Investigators have substantiated all but two allegations of misuse -- that an inmate's wife visited him at town offices and that an inmate used a town pickup to drop off mail, Massie said.

The town had contracted with the prison for three years at $170 a month to use inmate crews to fix streets, clean around town and make repairs to town property.

Corrections officials will take no further action, Massie said.