‘Ripple effects’ to possible prison closure could impact Lawton, county deeply

Officials disagree over the impact possible closure of Lawton Correctional Facility would have on Lawton and Comanche County.

On Thursday, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections announced that The GEO Group was discontinuing negotiations for a contract for the Lawton Correctional Facility, which renews at the end of the month. With the announcement comes a possibility of shuttering the prison and moving the prisoners to other statewide facilities.

The economic impact to Lawton could end up as collateral damage for the Comanche County seat of just under 100,000 people.

Kay Thompson, ODOC public relations chief, was unsure exactly how many employees are employed at the facility, 8607 SE Flower Mound Road, but that she believes there are approximately 420 people on the payroll at the private prison facility.

There would be an economic impact if the prison closed its doors and left its workers without employment, but Brad Cooksey also predicted that other employers in the community would ease the situation.

Cooksey, president of the Lawton Economic Development Corporation, agreed that closure by GEO would mean local GEO employees would be without jobs — initially. He said some major employers in the Lawton area already are understaffed and advertising for employees, and he predicted those employers would come looking for people who worked at GEO because those employers have jobs to fill.

“It’s probable that they could find work somewhere else,” Cooksey said of GEO employees, adding he’s confident local employers will “step up” because they need workers.

While GEO has notified the ODOC that it was discontinuing its contract at month’s end unless additional money was identified, Cooksey said local officials haven’t been told the prison is closing, adding news of the suspended negotiations was just beginning to make the rounds Friday afternoon. Should the worst-case scenario occur, Cooksey said local economic development officials and city leaders will assess the situation to make decisions about the impact to the community and workers.

“There will be other opportunities for those employees,” he said.

But 64th District State Rep. Rande Worthen (R-Lawton), Chair of the House Judiciary and Criminal Committee, sees a big impact to not just Lawton but also Comanche County as a whole.

“The loss of employment is an impact to the community,” he said. “Not just to those individuals. They’re spending money in the community.”

The Geo Group ended its contract with the state as fallout to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s rejection of a request for a $3 million increase on top of the $48 million paid by the state annually for its operation. Over the last four years, the state has increased its funding to GEO by $6.8 million, due to a bill Worthen authored.

Worthen said a small increase of $3 per inmate per day was appropriated in the budget before the governor vetoed it. He said the problem is GEO is trying to operate on the same budget they had but that it’s hard with costs rising and difficulty in hiring corrections officer. He likened it to difficulties in filling ranks at, for example, the Lawton Police Department.

“They’ve got a pretty decent salary right now,” he said. “It’s dangerous work and not so highly-appreciated by the people they’re working around.”

Worthen said it would cause a “major ripple effect” if something isn’t worked out behind the scenes.

“The ripple effect is what gives me some serious concerns,” he said.

In his veto message, Stitt said it would create an unfunded mandate to increase per diem rates at the facility that aren’t in the budget agreement and would put taxpayers to the task for increasing the salaries of private corporations with state contracts.

According to a statement from The GEO Group, it has made capital investments over the years to provide more bedspace to reduce overcrowding. The facility can house up to 2,682 medium and maximum-security inmates inside its 550,442 square-foot facility.

The company has proposed a three-month expansion agreement beginning July 1 to allow for inmate relocation if new funding and renegotiated contract terms can’t be agreed upon.

Thompson said the ODOC is looking at alternative housing options if the prisoners need to be relocated. GEO owns the buildings that house the Lawton prison as well as the Great Plains Correctional Facility in Hinton. Earlier this year, the state took over the lease to the Caddo County prison.

It could become an option with Lawton as well, according to Thompson.

“GEO did present us with the option to take over operations at the facility” she said.

A Board of Corrections meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday at Taft Correctional Facility may offer the path forward.

“Right now, I can say that we are considering multiple paths forward,” Thompsons aid. “But (we) should be able to announce a final plan either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday.”

Worthen said if no resolution is worked out, these inmates would have to be moved to other facilities that are already at maximum or over-capacity. He said the inmates at Lawton Correctional Facility are at the second-highest level of volatility behind the Oklahoma State Reformatory in McAlester. There’s reason why the Department of Corrections calls Lawton Correctional Facility “the most violent prison in Oklahoma.”

“It has some of the higher-security risk inmates in the state,” he said. “When an inmate was creating issues in other prisons, that inmate ended up getting transferred to Lawton. Then you wonder why you’re having some assaults and things like that.”

Worthen hopes renegotiations can create a solution between the state and GEO. If not, he doesn’t believe GEO will completely shutter and desert the facility in southeast Lawton. He looks to how another private prison in Sayre closed decades ago. Contracts were made with other states to house their prisoners.

Building a new facility isn’t really feasible for the State, according to Worthen. That’s how GEO ended up with its contracts with the State in the first place.

“It was cheaper to let a private company run the prison,” he said. “It was cost effective.”

Renegotiation is the ideal path to resolution, Worthen said.

“I’m hopeful, “ he said. “OK, let’s come up with some agreement and keep this facility operating.”