2015 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 57. Prisons and Reformatories
§57-563. Correctional facilities - Creation or construction - Approval of Legislature - Inmate work centers - Location.

A. Except as otherwise authorized by Section 183 of Title 73 of the Oklahoma Statutes, before any correctional facility other than an inmate work center as authorized in subsection B of this section or an inmate drug offender work camp, whether within the Department of Corrections or within any other state agency, may be created or any construction performed which may significantly increase, extend or expand the present facility, such creation or construction shall be approved by the Legislature. Correctional facilities owned or operated by private prison contractors shall not be deemed to be within the Department of Corrections or other state agency.

B. The Department of Corrections is hereby authorized to establish inmate work centers in locations where a need for labor to conduct public work projects is determined. The Department shall select the inmate work center locations based on objective comparisons of interested communities in accordance with procedures and criteria established by the Department of Corrections. The procedures, selection criteria and decision case analysis shall be made available to the public upon request.

C. No state, county or municipal correctional facility including any inmate work center, inmate drug offender work camp, inmate halfway house, inmate transitional living center and any other place where state, county or municipal inmates are housed shall be located within one thousand (1,000) feet of any public or private elementary or secondary school nor within two thousand five hundred (2,500) feet of any secure facility for juveniles. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any inmate work center, inmate drug offender work camp, inmate halfway house, inmate transitional living center and any other place where state, county or municipal inmates are housed established prior to May 20, 1994. Provided, that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to state, county, or municipal correctional facilities that are granted permission to operate within the areas restricted by this subsection by a majority vote of the following entities:

1. The district board of education of each school district with an affected school; and

2. The governing body of each affected private school.

D. In addition to the restrictions outlined in subsection C of this section, following the effective date of this act, no privately owned inmate halfway house or inmate transitional living center shall be located in a residential neighborhood inside the corporate limits of a municipality, or a county with planning and/or zoning commissions created pursuant to law, without approval from the local entity with authority over zoning requirements.

E. In any county with a population of two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) or more, as determined by the latest Federal Decennial Census, the Department of Corrections shall not cause, permit or require any inmate in the custody of the Department or cause, permit or require any offender under the supervision of the Department to enter, remain or be present in any Department of Corrections facility located within one thousand (1,000) feet of a private or public elementary or secondary school, or on the grounds of such a facility, for any activities involving or relating to processing, training, instructing, interviewing, counseling, reporting, conferring, imposing discipline, reviewing or adjudicating or any correctional function requiring or permitting the presence of the offender, except offenders may be employed in construction, maintenance or janitorial activities in or on the structures or grounds while under supervision of a correctional employee. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any facility established or acquired by the Department of Corrections prior to May 20, 1994.

Added by Laws 1981, c. 303, § 16, eff. July 1, 1981. Amended by Laws 1987, c. 80, § 4, operative July 1, 1987; Laws 1989, c. 303, § 15, operative July 1, 1989; Laws 1990, c. 258, § 19, operative July 1, 1990; Laws 1992, c. 293, § 3, emerg. eff. May 25, 1992; Laws 1993, c. 203, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Laws 1994, c. 213, § 1, emerg. eff. May 20, 1994; Laws 1996, c. 248, § 1, emerg. eff. May 28, 1996; Laws 1997, c. 133, § 81, eff. July 1, 1997; Laws 1998, c. 290, § 4, eff. July 1, 1998; Laws 2002, c. 43, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2002, c. 465, § 2, eff. July 1, 2002; Laws 2014, c. 362, § 9, emerg. eff. May 28, 2014; Laws 2015, c. 140, § 1, emerg. eff. April 21, 2015.