Oklahoma prison inmates outnumber guards by nearly 6 to 1

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A new study has found Oklahoma is the worst in the country when it comes to guard to inmate ratio inside prisons.

Inmates outnumber guards by nearly 6 to 1.

The data from 2022 and 2023 shows a major issue inside Oklahoma prisons. Representative JJ Humphrey says those numbers are even worse now.

"They might have 12, 14 officers to run a prison of about 1300, 1400," said Humphrey.

Rep. Humphrey says the new study raises major safety concerns inside of Oklahoma prisons, and he's worried the numbers could be even worse than reported.

"Here's the problem, stabbings in prison and killings in prison are becoming so common, they're not even hardly newsworthy anymore," said Humphrey.

He says realistically, inmates are outnumbering guards by as much as 15 to 1. He has tried to get accurate numbers from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC), but with no success.

"To try to get these numbers, I'm the correctional chairman and I cannot get one thing," Humphrey said.

According to data from the Bureau of Justice, Oklahoma had the second highest rate of inmate deaths in the country from 2001 to 2019.

Rep. Humphrey says the lack of staff and transparency inside prison walls is putting inmates at risk.

"It frustrates me that we're allowing families to be extorted," said Humphrey. "We're allowing inmates to be raped. We're allowing inmates to be killed, maimed, and again, yeah, our prisons are bankrupt. They're out of control. The governor needs to step in and do something."

We reached out to ODOC for comment on the numbers released, and if they are doing anything to bring in more officers, but we haven't heard back from them.