Oklahoma's House Public Safety Committee held an interim study examining pay for correctional officers, support staff and administrators at the Oklahoma Department of Corrections on Oct. 21.
Reps. David Hardin and Tim Turner, both with extensive law enforcement backgrounds, called the hearing to understand staffing challenges. "Having a strong and dependable corrections workforce is an important part of maintaining public safety across our state," Hardin said. "We need to understand the challenges the Department of Corrections faces in recruiting and retaining employees, as well as what is working in Oklahoma and elsewhere."
Justin Farris, the department's director, presented data on staffing challenges. When he began as a correctional officer in 1999, each housing unit had two to three officers; now, there is typically one. Since 2023, the department hired over 3,300 employees but lost more than 3,100, for a net gain of just 194 workers. The department currently has 641 open positions.
Oklahoma correctional officers earn significantly less than counterparts in surrounding states. Officers in pay tiers two through four earn 18% to 21.7% less than comparable workers in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico and Texas, according to the department's human resources director. Starting pay for most Oklahoma correctional officers is $21.48 per hour.
Donald Thurmond, chief of security at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and Jackie Brannon Minimum Security Unit, described what officers are asked to do at that wage: "We ask them to supervise individuals convicted of violent crimes. We ask them to intervene in fights. We ask them to confront individuals armed with homemade weapons. We ask them to respond when an inmate attempts to take their own life. We ask them to remain professional when they're threatened, cursed at, spit on or assaulted, and we ask them to protect the lives of the very people who may have just attempted to hurt them for approximately twenty-one dollars and forty-eight cents an hour."
Farris said a pay increase is necessary to retain staff. "We're not only losing our security staff to other states and entities that pay more, we're also losing experienced support and administrative staff to other state agencies that offer higher salaries for positions with less supervisory responsibility," he said.
Turner said lawmakers should act on the issue when the legislature convenes: "Respect must reflect in our actions, our budgets and ultimately in our paychecks of those that are serving behind those walls. These employees aren't asking to become wealthy. They're asking to earn a fair wage and provide for their families and know the state they serve values their sacrifices."