Lawmakers visit Lawton private prison

Members of a House subcommittee went to Lawton today to look at a private prison.

“Private prisons are here to stay,” said Rep. Randy Terrill, chairman of the House public safety and judiciary subcommittee. “They are part of the solution to our corrections challenges; however, they are not the sole answer to our problem.”

Subcommittee members are touring the Lawton Correctional Facility to get information about the state’s prison needs, including possible expansion of private prison usage.

The Lawton prison, owned and operated by GEO Group, is one of six private prisons in Oklahoma. The other 17 prisons are state-owned and operated.

Terrill, R-Moore, said the Lawton tour is one of several committee members will take in the coming months.

The group also plans to tour the privately owned Davis Correctional Facility near Holdenville and later visit state-owned facilities housing higher-security offenders.

Terrill said the Davis Correctional Facility, operated by Corrections Corporation of America and holding about 1,200 inmates, is of particular interest because it is the only private prison housing Oklahoma maximum-security inmates.

 - Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau