County approves DOC contracts

LAWTON – Comanche County Board of Commissioners approved two contracts with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections on Monday, allowing the Lawton Community Correction Center to assign prisoners to public works projects in the 1st and 3rd districts.

The contracts were listed on the commission’s consent agenda, which consists of routine items that can be approved with a single motion. The commission does not normally discuss items on the consent agenda, although commissioners can pull an item for discussion.

The commission originally approved the contracts in April. But the DOC’s general counsel has changed, which meant the commission needed to approve new contracts.

Under the terms of the contracts, Lawton Community Corrections Center inmates will help set up for events and do landscaping work and general cleaning. The 1st and 3rd districts will pay the state Department of Corrections $270 per inmate per month for the inmates’ labor, which includes the base cost and a 10% administrative fee.

The DOC will not supervise the prisoners or provide transportation to and from the worksite. However, the DOC will provide lunches for the prisoners.

The districts will provide work orders, assignments and training for the prisoners, as well as a safe working environment. The districts will also furnish all necessary supplies.

Prisoners who are assigned to the districts will work only on public property, but they may work on private property for a public purpose, according to the contracts. The DOC must approve any prisoner labor on private property before work begins.

Districts may not use prisoners to provide personal services for private benefit or to supervise other prisoners. DOC officials may occasionally visit the worksite to monitor the prisoners and check compliance with the contracts.

The district will provide head counts and close supervision for community-placement prisoners, according to the contracts. The supervisor will check on each prisoner at least hourly, and a formal count will be conducted and recorded in a log book every two hours.

For minimum-security prisoners, supervisors will check on each prisoners every half hour and conduct a formal count every two hours, which will be documented.

The districts will notify the DOC and local law enforcement agencies immediately if any prisoners are missing or unaccounted for, or if county officials believe a prisoner has escaped. The districts will also notify the DOC of any rule violations.

The contracts took effect July 1 and will continue until June 30, 2023.