Record number of convicts under supervision in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The Oklahoma Department of Corrections says it’s now supervising a record number of convicts.
The department said Friday it is overseeing 61,012 people, which includes 26,619 in state and private prisons or halfway houses and 32,564 who are supervised by GPS monitors, community supervision or by probation and parole officers. Another 1,829 are in county jails awaiting space in prison.
The department says the total number is the highest in its 49-year history.
Department director Joe Allbaugh said state prisons need more than $2 billion in infrastructure repairs.
Allbaugh is a member of the Oklahoma Justice Reform Task Force created by Gov. Mary Fallin that is to provide the Legislature with recommendations on ways to reduce incarceration and recidivism rates, and to provide more treatment programs for inmates.