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State to phase out Stillwater Correctional Facility over four years; officials say no early releases planned
Summary
As part of targets announced Tuesday, leaders said the Stillwater Correctional Facility will be phased out over about four years because of safety and deferred‑maintenance concerns; officials said there will be no early releases and staff impacts will be phased.
State leaders announced that the budget targets include a plan to phase out operations at the Stillwater Correctional Facility, a prison officials said houses about 1,100 incarcerated people, in a process that will take roughly four years.
Officials described persistent deferred maintenance and safety problems at Stillwater, including long‑standing capital needs that they said would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to correct. Leaders said the state has capacity in other facilities to house the people currently at Stillwater and that the decision is intended to improve safety for corrections staff and incarcerated people.
Officials said the plan includes no early releases and noted the number of affected employees (officials cited about 560 employees at the facility). They said the plan is a phase‑out that will include workforce and community planning as the facility’s operations wind down.
A separate press conference by the corrections commissioner was scheduled to provide more detailed operational plans, officials said.
Why it matters: the facility’s closure raises community questions about reuse of the land and local economic impacts, and it will require detailed operational plans for transfers, staffing changes and capital work. Leaders said they were supportive of the phased plan after reviewing public safety considerations and deferred‑maintenance costs.
