Here's some good news if you work in our state's overcrowded, cash strapped, falling into disrepair prison system. Thanks to Mary Fallin's incompetence in dealing with our budget crisis, you're now getting some cash!
Earlier this week, while Oklahoma continues to deal with an extraordinary budget crisis that has led to drastic funding cuts to essential and core government services, the Department of Corrections announced it's giving each one of its 3,965 employees a one-time stipend of $1,750. For those scoring at home, that's exactly $1,750 more than the stipend the Department of Education recently doled out to all Oklahoma teachers.
Via NewsOK.com:
The Oklahoma Corrections Board on Tuesday approved a one-time stipend of $1,750 for corrections employees.
The money will come from the $10.16 million the agency received in September as partial reimbursement for an overly large budget cut made earlier during a state revenue failure.
Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh said the money will come at a good time for employees struggling to make ends meet.
"This stipend will help employees offset the increased cost for insurance while giving them a little more in their pockets for their disposal," Allbaugh said. "The board decided we couldn't pass on this opportunity to invest in our employees. I deeply appreciate the board's decision to direct this money in this way."
Allbaugh said most of the department's employees haven't seen a raise in a decade. He said his goal for the next legislative session is to find a way to give employees a permanent raise.
Corrections Board Chairman Michael Roach said finance and legal officials are working on details of how the department will distribute the money. Employees with six months on the job will get the stipend first, while current employees with less experience will get the money when they hit the six-month mark.
Even though our prison system is falling into disrepair, I don't have a big problem with this. The starting salary for an entry-level security officer in an Oklahoma prison is something like $2,200 a month. The stipend can help pay for groceries, rent or even a new TV. Whatever it's spent on, I'm sure that extra money is really going to help the DOC employees who really need it. I'm also sure it will help all those DOC employees who don't really need it, like these 43 DOC employees who all make over $100,000 a year.
Via Oklahoma Watch Data:
| Joe B Mccurdy | Regional Supervising Physician | $188,681 | Aug. 17, 2009 |
| Darrel E Schreiner | Lead Psychiatrist | $183,688 | May 10, 1999 |
| Roy T Donovan | Lead Psychiatrist | $183,062 | Sept. 26, 2005 |
| Rajeswararaju Bhupathiraju | Psychiatrist | $171,249 | Nov. 3, 2008 |
| Lawrence H Trombka | Psychiatrist | $170,625 | Dec. 24, 2008 |
| James T Howard | Psychiatrist | $170,425 | April 4, 2011 |
| Jeffrey C Troutt | Regional Supervising Physician | $156,712 | Nov. 13, 1998 |
| Paula B Gettys | Regional Supervising Physician | $156,500 | May 20, 2002 |
| Bruce L Meyer | Regional Supervising Physician | $156,392 | July 1, 1987 |
| John B Marlar | Lead Staff Physcn II (Board Ce | $152,430 | Aug. 1, 2006 |
| Larry D Bowler | Lead Staff Physcn II (Board Ce | $151,849 | Nov. 13, 2007 |
| Joe E Haynes | Dentist | $150,907 | Sept. 22, 2003 |
| Mitsi A Faubion | Regional Supervising Physician | $147,916 | Dec. 16, 2013 |
| Michael Houston | Staff Physician | $141,850 | Sept. 1, 2006 |
| Bobby J Thompson | Staff Physician | $141,626 | Dec. 19, 2001 |
| Charles P Crowell | Staff Physician | $141,203 | July 21, 2014 |
| Paul D Johnson | Staff Physician | $132,931 | Oct. 29, 2001 |
| Edward L Evans | Associate Director | $131,054 | Jan. 1, 1982 |
| James R Holland | Chief Dental Officer | $129,699 | Feb. 26, 2001 |
| Tina R Hicks | Associate Director | $129,567 | Oct. 3, 1990 |
| Jonathan K Brewer | Staff Physician | $119,105 | Nov. 17, 2014 |
| Alan R Mcdonald | Dentist | $115,455 | Jan. 2, 1986 |
| Akhtar Hameed | Staff Physician | $114,966 | Oct. 1, 2012 |
| Robert L Albright | Dentist | $113,955 | Oct. 23, 2000 |
| Paul G Haines | Dentist | $112,966 | Dec. 18, 2000 |
| Bethany G Wagener | Physicians Assistant II | $112,425 | Feb. 1, 2011 |
| David A Cincotta | General Counsel | $110,955 | Feb. 8, 2007 |
| Rodney Hutchins | Dentist | $110,850 | Sept. 11, 2006 |
| Charles W Phillips | Dentist | $110,849 | May 23, 2011 |
| William J Taylor Jr. | Dentist | $110,833 | June 29, 2015 |
| Ronald K Smith | Dentist | $110,731 | Feb. 2, 2009 |
| Eric S Hammack | Dentist | $110,625 | July 1, 2009 |
| Thomas A Corwin | Dentist | $110,531 | Oct. 4, 2010 |
| Donna K Flores | Dentist | $110,426 | May 23, 2011 |
| Micheal E Aitson | Dentist | $110,000 | Feb. 2, 2015 |
| Robert C Balogh | Staff Physician | $106,073 | Dec. 13, 2010 |
| David B Parker | Division Manager | $103,218 | July 7, 1986 |
| Greg M Williams | Division Manager | $102,946 | Aug. 1, 1983 |
| Laura J Pitman | Division Manager | $101,914 | July 1, 1999 |
| James C Castleberry | Division Manager | $101,796 | Nov. 1, 1999 |
| Terri L Watkins | Director of Communications | $100,958 | Dec. 29, 2006 |
| Jack A Shannon | Dentist | $100,660 | Aug. 18, 2003 |
Holy shit! Oklahoma has locked up so many of its own people that we need 13 dentists on staff just to clean our prisoners' teeth. We even have a Chief Dental Officer who makes $129,000 a year. I hope he enjoys his stipend.
Anyway, I called the DOC to verify that these employees who make double the median Oklahoma household income also get the $1,750 stipend as our state continues to face a budget crisis that has led to some Oklahoma school districts resorting to four-day school weeks just to make ends meet, and guess what, they do. The person I spoke with said the law requires the stipends be distributed equally to all employees. That's ridiculous. As a small government conservative who feels that government should be managed and operated like the private sector, I think the extra money should be kept by the board, executives and chief dental officer.
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