Despite efforts to reduce incarceration, Oklahoma's prison population is growing at a defiantly steady pace.
The trend includes a surge of hundreds of state inmates being held in county jails and the rate of women in prison reaching its highest recorded level.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections data show that since late 2014, a year when early-release policies were relaxed to help reduce incarceration, the number of inmates in corrections facilities has increased by nearly 1,200, reaching 28,095 near the end of 2015. The total also rose tbrough out 2014.
Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics also show that Oklahoma had the second highest incarceration rate in the nation in 2014, at 700 inmates per 100,000 population. The national rate was 471.
Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism service that produces in-depth and investigative content on a range of public-policy issues facing the state. For more Oklahoma Watch content, go to www.oklahomawatch.org.
