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The cost of incarceration

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Oklahoma has an incarceration rate of 993 per 100,000 people (including prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities), meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than any democracy on earth. Read on to learn more about who is incarcerated in Oklahoma and why.

34,000 people from Oklahoma are behind bars

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in Oklahoma is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 96,000 different people are booked into local jails in Oklahoma.

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Oklahoma graphs:

• total numbers rather than rates.
• Women’s prisons: Incarceration Rates | Total Population
• Men’s prisons: Incarceration Rates | Total Population

Today, Oklahoma’s incarceration rates stand out internationally

In the U.S., incarceration extends beyond prisons and local jails to include other systems of confinement. The U.S. and state incarceration rates in this graph include people held by these other parts of the justice system, so they may be slightly higher than the commonly reported incarceration rates that only include prisons and jails. Details on the data are available in States of Incarceration: The Global Context. We also have a version of this graph focusing on the incarceration of women.

People of color are overrepresented in prisons and jails

Oklahoma's criminal justice system is more than just its prisons and jails

The high cost of being incarcerated in Oklahoma

Prisons and jails in Oklahoma are increasingly shifting the cost of incarceration to people behind bars and their families, hiding the true economic costs of mass incarceration:

• Jails in Oklahoma charge up to $3.15 for a 15-minute phone call, reaping profits for companies, while prisons charge $2.10 for a 15-minute call.
• Oklahoma suspended its $4 medical copays in prisons at the beginning of the pandemic for flu related medical visits — It should eliminate them entirely.
• Oklahoma prisons charge families up to a 20% fee to transfer money to an incarcerated loved one.
• People in Oklahoma prisons with more than $10.50 in their account must pay for hygiene items and other basics.
• People in Oklahoma prisons earn as little as 5¢ an hour for their work.
• New data: Low incomes — but high fees — for people on probation in Oklahoma
• Oklahoma charges up to 25¢ for an e-message to or from prison.

Prison-based gerrymandering in Oklahoma

• Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Oklahoma
• Prison gerrymandering finally solved in McAlester, Okla.
• Accidental prison gerrymandering almost solved in McAlester, Okla.

Our other articles about Oklahoma

• People on parole in Oklahoma can be sent back to prison for "associating" with anyone who has a felony or misdemeanor conviction — even loved ones who are trying to support them
• The cost of incarcerating older people is incredibly high, and their risk of reincarceration is incredibly low, yet 13% of people in Oklahoma prisons are over the age of 55. Why is the state keeping so many older people locked up?
• Oklahoma makes it difficult or even risky for incarcerated journalists to tell their stories.
• Bail companies in Oklahoma have a track record of avoiding accountability, our report All Profit, No Risk and review of state-by-state evidence show
• Oklahoma prisons release about 9,365 people every year
• How the end of Roe v. Wade will impact the 5,575 women on probation and parole in Oklahoma
• Oklahoma hurts jury diversity by excluding people with felony records
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - Oklahoma gets an F
• Who's helping the 25,177 women released from Oklahoma correctional facilities each year?

Other resources

• Research on Oklahoma in our Research Library

Data on COVID-19 in Oklahoma jails and prisons

We gave Oklahoma a failing grade in September 2021 for its response to the coronavirus in prisons, noting that:

• Oklahoma released fewer people on parole in 2020 than they had in 2019, and approved a smaller percent of parole applications.
• Oklahoma failed to utilize one of the most obvious, and easiest, tools for reducing the prison population — stopping prison admissions for technical violations of probation and parole (which are not crimes).

For more detail, see our report States of Emergency. Or check out these other resources:

• How many COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma communities can be linked to outbreaks in correctional facilities? (data from our report Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread)