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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (202 3)
HOUSE BILL 2589 By: Humphrey
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to prisons and reformatories;
amending 57 O.S. 2021, Section 37, which relates to
maximum capacity of facilities; autho rizing immediate
transfer of inmates upon request; establishing time
limit after notification; and providing an effective
date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 57 O.S. 2021, Section 37, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 37. A. If all correctional facilities reach maximum
capacity and the Department of Corrections is required to contract
for bed space to house state inmates:
1. The Pardon and Parole Board shall conside r all nonviolent
offenders for parole who are within six (6) months of their
scheduled release fro m a penal facility; and
2. Prior to contracting with a private prison operator to
provide housing for state inmates, the Department shall send
notification to all county jails in this state that bed space is
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required to house the overflow population of st ate inmates. Upon
receiving notification, the sheriff or jail trust administrator of a
county jail is authorized to enter into agreements with the
Department to provide housing for the inmates. Reimbursement for
the cost of housing t he inmates shall be a negotiated per diem rate
for each inmate as contracted but sh all in no event be l ess than the
per diem rate provided for in Section 38 of this title.
B. No inmate may be received by a penal facility from a county
jail without first scheduling a transfer with the Department.
Within five (5) business days after the court orders the jud gment
and sentence, the court clerk shall transmit to the Department by
facsimile, electronic mail, or actual delivery a certified copy of
the judgment and sentence.
C. The receipt of the certified copy of the judgment an d
sentence shall be certification that the sentencing court has
entered a judgment and sentence and all o ther necessary commitment
documents. The Department of Corrections is authorized to determine
the appropriate method of delivery from each county base d on
electronic or other capabilities, and establish a method for issuing
receipts certifying that the De partment has received the judgment
and sentence document. The Department shall establish a dedicated
electronic address location for receipt of all el ectronically
submitted judgment and sentence documents. The electronic address
location shall provide wr itten receipt verification of each received
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judgment and sentence document. Once an appropriate judgment and
sentence document is received by the Department of Corrections, the
Department shall contact the sheri ff or jail trust administrator
when bed space is available to schedule the transfer and r eception
of the inmate into the Department or the sheriff or jail trust
administrator may request an immediate transfer in which the
Department shall schedule deliv ery of the inmate within three (3)
working days after said request.
D. If the Department receives a judgme nt and sentence docu ment
from a county that includes inaccurate information f rom the
sentencing court the Department shal l notify the county within a
timely manner.
E. When a county jail has reached its capacity of inmates as
provided in the standards set forth in Section 192 of Title 74 of
the Oklahoma Statutes, then the county s heriff or jail trust
administrator shall notify the Director of the Oklahoma Department
of Corrections, or the Director's designated representative, by
facsimile, electronic mail, or ac tual delivery, that th e county jail
has reached or exceeded its capacity to hold inmates. The
notification shall i nclude copies of any judgment and sentences not
previously delivered as required by subsection B of this section.
Then within seventy-two (72) hours three (3) working days following
such notification, the county sheriff or jail trust administrator
shall transport the designated excess inmate or inmates to a penal
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facility designated by the Department. The sheriff or jail trust
administrator shall notify the Dep artment of the transport of the
inmate prior to the receptio n of the inmate. The Department shall
schedule the reception date and receive the inmate within seventy-
two (72) hours three (3) working days of notification that the
county jail is at capacity, unless other arrangemen ts can be made
with the sheriff or jail trust administrator .
F. The Department will be responsible for the co st of housing
the inmate in the county jail including costs of medical care
provided from the date the judgment and sentence was ordered by the
court until the date of transf er of the inmate from the county jail.
The Department shall implement a policy fo r determination of
scheduled dates on which an inmate or multiple inmates are to be
transferred from county jails. The policy s hall allow for no less
than three alternative dates from which the sheriff or jail trust
administrator of a county jail may select and shall provide for
weather-related occurrences or other emergencies that may prevent or
delay transfers on the scheduled date. The policy shall be
available for review upon request by any sheriff or jail trust
administrator of a county jail. The cost of hou sing shall be the
per diem rate specified in Section 38 of this title. In the event
the inmate has one or more criminal charges pending in the same
Oklahoma jurisdiction and the county jail refuses to transfer the
inmate to the Department because of the p ending charges, the
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Department shall not be responsible for the housing costs of the
inmate while the inmate remains in the county jail with pending
charges. Once the inmate no longer has pending charges in the
jurisdiction, the Department shall be respon sible for the housing
costs of the inmate for the period beginning on the date the
judgment and sentence or final order was ordered by the Court. In
the event the inmate has other criminal charges pending in another
Oklahoma jurisdiction, the Department s hall be responsible for the
housing costs while the inmate remains in the county jail awaiting
transfer to another jurisdiction or until the date the inmate is
scheduled to be transferred to the Department, whichever is earlier.
Once the inmate is transfe rred to another jurisdiction, the
Department is not responsible for the housing cost of the inmate
until such time that another judgment and sentence is received by
the Department from another Oklahoma jurisdiction.
The sheriff or jail trust administrator may submit invoices for
the cost of housing the inmate on a monthly basis. Final payment
for housing an offender will be made only after the official
judgment and sentence is received by the Department of Corrections.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
59-1-5552 GRS 01/04/23