Oklahoma House committee greenlights purchase of Lawton private prison, pledges no job cuts

OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislative budget committees on Monday voted to move forward with spending $312 million to purchase a private prison in Lawton that the state uses to house about 2,300 inmates.

Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Faxon, said The GEO Group, which operates the Lawton Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility in south Comanche County, no longer wants to continue its business relationship with the state. 

Caldwell, who chairs the House’s appropriations committee and authored House Bill 2780, said legislators have made “multiple overtures” to the company to avoid having to purchase the prison, which included offering increases in the amount the state pays in per diem rates to care for inmates. 

Oklahoma House committee greenlights purchase of Lawton private prison, pledges no job cuts • Oklahoma Voice