OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has completed transferring 151 Comanche County Detention Center inmates to two state prisons.
All of the inmates tested negative for the coronavirus and were sent to the state facilities temporarily because of a massive COVID-19 outbreak at the county jail in Lawton.
The DOC transported 119 men from the CCDC to the North Fork Correctional Center at Sayre on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday the DOC moved 32 women inmates from the county jail to Mabel Bassett Correctional Center near McLoud.
The jail inmates are segregated from prison inmates, DOC officials said.
The Corrections Department reported that 167 county inmates remain at CCDC, among them negative-testing jail orderlies who assist with food services and cleaning.
State Health Department inspection records indicate this is the first time in at least five years that the CCDC has not been packed beyond its authorized capacity.
The Comanche County jail is designed to confine a maximum of 283 inmates, according to the Health Department. But 340 inmates – 57 more than the authorized capacity – were confined in the facility on May 17, the jail’s website showed.
Late last week, Lawton Mayor Stan Booker and Comanche County officials reached out to Gov. Kevin Stitt, requesting help with managing the overcrowded facility after 109 inmates and 17 staff members tested positive for COVID-19.
A DOC security team arrived at the jail on May 17 to assist its staff in disinfecting the building and identifying sick inmates. The DOC will continue helping with jail operations and housing county inmates through June 10, according to Justin Wolf, the DOC’s communications director.