State lawmaker says Oklahoma prisons in 'State of Emergency' after rape, drug, illness incidents

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The chairman of the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee called for an outside independent Federal agency to investigate the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and all of the prisons in the State of Oklahoma.

State Representative Justin J.J. Humphrey said within the last few weeks serious problems within state prisons involving both men and women have ‘escalated’ and said a State of Emergency-like situation exists within Oklahoma’s prisons.

“We need to call a state of emergency. We need to investigate. Something should be done. If something does happen, I’m not going to be the one responsible for allowing that to happen without speaking out and trying to stop it,” Humphrey said.

For an hour and a half on Wednesday morning, Humphrey and his committee examined recent reports of drug overdoses, more reports of male and female inmates being raped and at times extorted and an incident involving meningitis in a western Oklahoma prison.

One of the new reports of rape involves a video sent to FOX23 News from the Mabel Bassett Women’s Correctional Facility in Pottawatomie County. The video was accompanied by photos and the message that the woman in the video is an inmate who was being harassed by a guard who said he would leave her alone if she gave into his sexual advances.

The incident comes while the committee is investigating claims of sexual assault across the state and held a day-long hearing about claims of sexual assault at both the Eddie Warrior Women’s Correctional Facility in Taft in Muskogee County and in the State Penitentiary in McAlester.

“I have some friends in Mabel Bassett that I’ve known for years and I’ve talked to them about this,” said State Rep. Danny Williams (R-Seminole).

“It’s serious and it’s real,” Williams said.

Members of the committee have in their possession the video sent to FOX23 of the Mabel Bassett incident and at the same time Humphrey said more verbal and written accounts of sexual assaults have also come in. At the same time, a western Oklahoma prison had an inmate die from meningitis, and in another prison, five male inmates experienced a drug overdose.

On Tuesday, the Great Plains Correctional Center in Hinton lifted a 10-day medical lockdown after one inmate died from the highly contagious illness. Another inmate in the same facility felt sick, was taken to a hospital, but tested negative for meningitis.

“You know who calls me all the time please ‘help us? Please get in here and fix this?’ Inmates. I never in a million years would’ve bet that me Mister Law Enforcement Officer who used to put more people in jail would ever get called and asked ‘please help us’. We get what thirty to forty calls a week?” Humphrey said while checking with his legislative assistant who helps answer e-mails, letters, and calls.

The committee examined the inmate-to-guard ratio which Humphrey said is inaccurate.

“This is not something you can just say is happening at all facilities,” he said. “Every facility is different, and that’s not even taking into account who called in sick each day.”

Humphrey said a few years ago, ODOC eliminated some open correctional officer positions and passed on the cost savings to the correctional officers still working for them in the form of raises. Since then, there’s been an imbalance of positions needed to adequately staff the agency and actual positions that need to be filled.

“I think we’re looking something playing out like 63 people leave and then we have 50 people coming out of the academy every year,” said State Rep. John Kane (R-Bartlesville).

Kane said while some positions are still being filled, there is a gap that continues to grow because recruiting can’t keep up with departures, especially those of tenured and experienced staff who leave after hitting the age to get full retirement benefits for their service time.

Humphrey said because of these gaps and unfilled positions, things are getting out of hand at all prison locations and ODOC cannot keep an eye on and handle all of its problems.

Kay Thompson, ODOC Communications Chief, said the agency eliminated some open positions, but that is because a state audit determined new technology and better methods of running state prisons required less in person guards and officers.

“It’s not necessarily that you need 30 officers in this unit. Now we are able to do it more effectively and efficiently [because of technology],” Thompson said.

Thompson said the agency is actively responding to claims of sexual assault and other issues, but sometimes there is little to no evidence to be found to prompt immediate action.

“We are constantly trying to make sure that people are serving their time in the best way possible making sure they’re fed and their civil rights are not violated,” Thompson said about the sexual assaults and meningitis outbreak.

Thompson said sometimes evidence does come in that prompts quick action such as when a video was sent to FOX23 of the sexual assault at Mabel Bassett. ODOC asked FOX23 told off on reporting about the video for a few hours while the agency found the guard on the job, fired him and then arrested him for second degree rape.

ODOC released the following statement in response to the committee meeting.

“The Oklahoma Department of Corrections takes seriously the safety and security of our staff and inmates. During today’s Criminal Justice and Corrections committee meeting, Representative Justin Humphrey made multiple untrue claims. He began by saying an inmate at the Great Plains Correctional Center is currently hospitalized for injuries resulting from rape. This is entirely inaccurate. The agency has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) allegations. This is displayed through the swiftness with which our agents arrested the correctional officer seen having sex with a Mabel Bassett Correctional Center inmate in the video provided to us.

Rep. Humphrey stated he receives reports of rapes; however, he has not reported any of these incidents to ODOC’s Office of the Inspector General and has continued to make vague statements, which cannot be investigated. No outside law enforcement agency has contacted us about potential rape reports.

Rep. Humphrey’s commenting deaths within our facilities were preventable is pure speculation on his part. Our medical and mental health teams genuinely care about those incarcerated and work diligently to provide the best care possible. His report of an inmate screaming for hours in pain again is one of the many baseless statements made today.

There was no outbreak of meningitis at GPCC. There was only one case of meningitis, which unfortunately resulted in a fatality. Another inmate presented with symptoms but was medically cleared after extensive tests. We followed our protocols and the Oklahoma State Department of Health guidelines, which mitigated any spread. We reported this information from the beginning in the spirit of complete transparency.

ODOC has been open about the need for more security staff. The unit dedicated to recruiting new correctional officers is constantly working and has proven successful. Thirty cadets graduated earlier this month, and after receiving hundreds of applications, we are currently interviewing for the next academy. Our attrition rate is on the decline, which is a clear indication of the culture shift within ODOC.

ODOC constantly evaluates all operations, making decisions based on data and facts. We continue to work closely with all members of the Legislature, operating in transparency while protecting public safety.”