California Prisoners Expected In State Next Week

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- State prison officials say nearly 500 prison inmates from California are expected to begin arriving in Oklahoma next week.<br/><br/>The inmates will be held in privately owned prisons

Wednesday, October 25th 2006, 11:27 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- State prison officials say nearly 500 prison inmates from California are expected to begin arriving in Oklahoma next week.

The inmates will be held in privately owned prisons in Sayre and Watonga and state Department of Corrections director Justin Jones says it will effectively fill up every remaining prison bed in the state. Jones says no Oklahoma inmates are at either prison but the state will no longer have the option of sending inmates there to relieve overcrowding.

The prisons are run by Corrections Corporation of America and California will pay the company $63 per day for each inmate for a total of about $22-million a year. CCA says the California inmates are to begin arriving next Wednesday.