LAWTON – Contracts with the state Department of Corrections to provide convict labor for Comanche County were renewed Monday for yet another year.
District 1 County Commissioner Gail Turner said he uses prisoners for “patching roads, trimming trees, running packers on road crews, picking up trash, mowing and weed-eating” along county roads in his district.
District 3 County Commissioner Alvin Cargill said he uses prisoners for “whatever needs to be done,” such as “running equipment, weed-eating and picking up trash” along the roads in western Comanche County.
Each of the two commissioners uses four prisoners from Lawton’s pre-release center for 40 hours a week, Cargill said.
District 1 and District 3 each pays the DOC $540 per month for the manual labor performed by the convicts, County Clerk Carrie Tubbs said. That fee includes the base cost and a 10% administrative fee, she said. Such contracts “have been in place for at least 20 years,” Ms. Tubbs said.