Senators say they weren't involved in prison contract negotiations despite DOC claim

Although Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Steven Harpe told members of the corrections board last week that several state lawmakers were part of the team that helped negotiate a new contract with the GEO Group , at least two of those lawmakers said they had no knowledge of any meetings and were not involved in any negotiations with the GEO Group.

Last week, during the Department of Corrections Board of Directors meeting, Harpe told his board and public audience members that several state lawmakers including Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Lawton; House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka; Sen. Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher; and Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus were brought in to help with contract negotiations between the state Corrections Department and the GEO Group, the owners of the Lawton Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility.

"The proposal for the board review that, if approved will go to the attorney general's office for signature, was a team effort between the House, the Senate and the executive branch," a recording of the meeting has Harpe saying. "Speaker McCall was a big help, as was Vice Chair Trey Caldwell and then Sen. Jech and Sen. Howard were instrumental (in) us getting to this place. Obviously the governor has been in contact with me often through the last couple of weeks since we got to this deal."

More: Oklahoma DOC extends contract with GEO group to keep troubled Lawton prison open

However, both Jech and Howard said they didn't attend any meeting and weren't involved in contract negotiations.

"Sens. Jech and Howard both confirmed they had no knowledge of the meeting and were not involved in negotiations with DOC and GEO," said Senate communications director Alex Gerszewski. Both senators, Gerszewski said, were unaware of any meetings between GEO and state officials.

"They weren't there. They didn't go," he said.

Monday afternoon, Corrections Department spokeswoman Kay Thompson said she "wasn't sure where you are getting that Director Harpe stated the senators were instrumental. During the meeting, he said James Rudek was instrumental. Harpe thanked the legislators in the press release for being supportive and providing guidance. They were not involved in the negotiations. It was important to speak with them due to their involvement with the Public Safety committees," Thompson's statement said.

The Oklahoman's recording of the meeting indicates otherwise. Rudek was never mentioned in Harpe's early comments. Harpe thanked lawmakers and said they "were instrumental (in) us getting to this place."

Thompson's statement included a second quote from Harpe: "We echo GEO's gratitude for Representative Caldwell and would also like to thank Governor Stitt, Speaker Charles McCall, Representative Kyle Hilbert, Senator Darcy Jech and Senator Brent Howard for their guidance through this negotiation process,” Harpe's statement said.

However, Rep. Caldwell said three members of the House of Representatives were involved in negotiations and Caldwell said he was asked to mediate because negotiations had broken down.

The board meeting followed a terse email sent earlier that week by the GEO Group's lobbyist to a handful of state lawmakers. That email said the company would be terminating its contracts and the state would need to find housing for about 4,000 high-security inmates.

“I wanted to make you aware of the termination letter GEO has submitted to DOC regarding the Lawton Correctional Facility, as well as a breach of contract letter for the Hinton Great Plains Facility,” GEO Group lobbyist Tonya Lee wrote to several state lawmakers and corrections officials. “These two facilities, combined, house close to 4,000 high security inmates that the state will need to find alternative housing for.”

In a letter attached the email, GEO Group President George Zoley wrote the company was discontinuing the lease of the Lawton Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility because it “could not continue to provide the facility and the associated correctional services without adequate funding and relief from facility overcrowding.”

Caldwell, the state representative from Lawton, said he was asked to help mediate the dispute between the state and the GEO group. He said the "main group" of lawmakers involved included McCall, Rep. Kevin Wallace (R-Wellston) and himself. Caldwell said the group held a meeting at the state Capitol on June 20, the same day as a meeting of the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency.

"Both sides were bickering right at the end of the session and it got sideways really, really bad," Caldwell said. "It was not good. Then both sides started really, really posturing."

Caldwell said he spoke with Harpe, and eventually he, Harpe and Zoley spoke in a conference call.

Not long after those meetings, on June 26, Harpe asked the Board of Corrections to approve a one-year extension for Lawton. The board voted 6-to-0 to approve the contract. The seventh board member, Gerszewski, abstained.

State Rep. agrees with decision, but calls for accountability

State Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, chair of the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee, said he wasn’t surprised by the quick pace of the contract extension. He said the state shouldn't use private prisons, but added the state hasn’t run the corrections system any better than a private company.

“I’ve been reporting all of these types of incidents for two years. DOC called me a liar, said everything I said was false,” he told The Oklahoman. “Now they are talking differently. It’s shocking that DOC is now claiming that GEO is doing a terrible job.”

Humphrey said he agreed with Gov. Kevin Stitt’s recent post on X that “Enough is enough” on how the prison has been managed. He said he asked when Stitt would hold Harpe accountable for the problems at Lawton and other prisons such as Allen Gamble Correctional Center in Holdenville and Great Plains Correctional Center in Hinton. In his comments before the board voted, Harpe acknowledged the issues surrounding the Lawton facility.

He said the governor's office said Stitt was fine with the extension because "it will save millions of taxpayer dollars while giving DOC time to safely transition to a new arrangement."

“I recognize that this facility and its reputation and its maintenance and its operation and the violence has got to stop, and so this is our first leg towards that,” Harpe said. “This whole thing around ‘we change lives’ is not a joke.”

Harpe said the new agreement would save the state $1.7 million and allow them to get personnel inside the Lawton facility working with GEO. He said other mechanisms for programming were in progress, but specific details have not been released yet.

Family members say they are worried about loved ones in Lawton, Hinton facilities

Concerned family members lined two narrow hallways in the chapel at the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center, waiting for the board's decision last week. Some family members told The Oklahoman they drove two and a half hours to attend the meeting.

Jane R., who asked that her last name not be used because she feared retaliation for her family member who is incarcerated, said her goal was being a voice for her loved one and every inmate in Oklahoma regarding safety, lack of classes and lack of rehabilitation. She said she wanted to make sure inmates were treated as more than criminals and given their civil rights.

“We’re all human and some of us make mistakes,” she said. “Some of us just make bigger mistakes than others, and they end up being incarcerated because of it.”

Suzanne T. told the Oklahoman her family member has already been sliced in the legs, and when he was sent to medical, it was a filthy cell full of urine.

"The public doesn’t have a clue as to what happens in prisons because of the decisions that take place behind closed doors,” she said. “It’s the run-around. It’s not the truth.”

Emily Barnes, founder of the advocate group Hooked on Justice, said she was glad inmates were not being moved out of state, as prior rumors indicated, and that the department was willing to work with her. Barnes said she wants the department to address drugs, gang activity, violence, medical issues and provide better training for staff.

She agreed the Lawton situation was a serious wakeup call.

"More family members are starting to speak up," she said. "We can't sit back and just keep letting them be handled any old way."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Senators say they weren't involved in prison contract negotiations despite DOC claim