Cimarron Correctional Facility to close

ENGLISH

Cimarron Correctional Facility, a privately owned and operated prison in Cushing, OK, is not renewing its contract with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) and will cease holding state inmates in 60 days, a source inside the prison told La Semana.

Cimarron Correctional Facility is owned and operated by Corecivic, the Tennessee based private operator of prisons nationwide formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America.

The decision was later confirmed by ODOC, which stated, “During negotiations with our private vendors, ODOC offered to decrease the number of beds in each of three private facilities by 500. ODOC believes this would have allowed all private facilities to remain operational. Instead, Corecivic chose to close its 1,650 bed prison. ODOC continues to house inmates at Corecivic’s Holdenville prison, Davis Correctional Facility.”

State revenues have plummeted due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the bottoming out of the oil industry earlier this year, and a source told La Semana the state was having trouble meeting its financial commitments to private prison contractors such as Corecivic.

“In order to help the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) meet their budget needs, we will be closing the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing, OK,” Corecivic said in a press release posted on its website.

It is not yet known for sure where the approximately 1400 inmates currently housed in Cushing will be transferred, although a source told La Semana the most likely locations are North Fork Correctional Center in Sayre and Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite. Both prisons are in extreme southwestern Oklahoma, which will create a significant hardship for many inmates’ families, who will have to travel hours for visitations. The Granite facility, built in 1909, has been described as “crumbling.”

Even with Cushing in place, ODOC and private facilities combined are already at close to 90% capacity.

Moving this amount of people during a pandemic also presents a host of challenges and health risks.

“Corecivic will work closely with the department to ensure a safe and seamless transfer of inmates out of Cimarron Correctional Center,” the company said. “At the same time, we are assisting our employees impacted by the closure, and will be working to provide them opportunities for transfer to other Corecivic facilities and access to community employment resources.”

The company said its Cimarron Correctional Facility, once all state prisoners have been transferred, would be offered “as a potential solution to meet the needs of other government partners.” (La Semana)