Prison Overload

The Department of Corrections says there's no room for new prisoners. It's a problem that could spell trouble in Tulsa. Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz says there are hundreds of convicts

Friday, May 4th 2007, 4:50 pm

By: News On 6

The Department of Corrections says there's no room for new prisoners. It's a problem that could spell trouble in Tulsa. Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz says there are hundreds of convicts in the county jail waiting to go to prison. News On 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports if they have no where to go they could end up costing Tulsa County residents a lot of money.

The Tulsa County Jail holds 1,700 inmates, but the Tulsa County Sheriff says there may soon be a backup at the jail.

â€œWe have a little over 1,400 people in jail. Two hundred have already been convicted, and waiting transfers to the DOC," said Sheriff Stanley Glanz.

But the Department of Corrections says it will stop accepting prisoners in the next 10 days. Right now, the prison population is at 98.1% capacity, 97% is the maximum allowed. Now, the DOC says it will ask the Pardon and Parole Board to commute the sentences of several hundred inmates to free up space.

â€œI think the Department of Corrections, the constraints they're working under are very difficult,â€ Glanz said. â€œNumber one they're not funded properly in my opinion. Another thing is the system they are using, with the part-time pardon and parole board, the governor has to sign all of the paroles. It's very cumbersome.â€

And time consuming which means the DOC convicts could end up staying in the Tulsa County Jail longer, at a cost of $50 a day. Sheriff Glanz says the DOC will pay $30 of it, but Tulsa County taxpayers end up paying the remaining $20. If you multiply that by 200 inmates, thatâ€™s $4,000 a day, and with more people convicted everyday the number of prisoners continues to rise.

Glanz says it is time to look for other solutions. He says the DOC needs more funding, and he also favors adding more rehabilitation programs for offenders. But the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center found what it considers other sources of the overcrowding problem. It says more inmates are serving mandatory sentences, the number of those recommended for parole has also dropped along with the number of paroles and commutations granted.

Watch the video: Oklahoma Running Out Of Room For Prisoners

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