INMATES' RETURN FROM TEXAS TO SAVE FUNDS, OFFICIALS SAY

The state Corrections Department's early removal of 268 inmates from a
private jail in Texas will save the state considerable money, although that
wasn't the intended purpose.

Agency officials completed the removal Friday, several weeks ahead of schedule.

The state moved 28 inmates from the Mansfield Law Enforcement Center on
June 26 amid an internal investigation of possible contract violations. At
the time, corrections officials said they planned to remove the remaining
240 at a rate of 70 per week beginning July 15.

However, space opened at the new private prison in Sayre, allowing for an
immediate removal last week, corrections department spokesman Jerry Massie
said.

The state was paying Mansfield $42 per day for each of the 268 inmates
housed there. At the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, the state
will pay $40 per day, per inmate.

Additionally, the state will save money in medical and transportation
costs, Massie said.

Although the exact nature of the alleged problems in Mansfield haven't been
disclosed, a Corrections Board member said they are so serious that he
expects they will be referred to Texas law enforcement agencies.

The problems were discovered during a recent inspection, said the board
member, Tony Caldwell.

"They were so obvious that those of us that are lay people picked them up
within five or 10 minutes after we got there," Caldwell said.

A full audit followed the inspection. A report is being prepared and should
be finished within two weeks, Massie said.

One of the state officials' concerns centers on a jail program that lets
inmates start their own businesses. In return, the jail keeps a percentage
of inmates' wages and/ or profits.

Caldwell said inmates sent a letter to an Oklahoma legislator upon hearing
of the removal plan.

"It was signed by every inmate in that facility, and they asked not to
return to Oklahoma.

"You have to think that when all the inmates in a facility are that happy
that they want to stay out of state, there's got to be something going on,"
Caldwell said.

Two inmates escaped the jail last week after the mass removal began. Massie
said he didn't know whether they escaped specifically to avoid returning to
Oklahoma.

One escapee, Garland Gilbert Lenoir, was arrested Saturday on new drug and
weapons charges in Memphis, Tenn. However, authorities there released him
on $1,000 bail.

Massie said he didn't know what caused the mix-up.

Lenoir, 32, was serving a 20-year sentence for a narcotics conviction.

The other escapee, Clarence Edwin Smith Jr., 20, was serving a 20-year
sentence for forgery.

The men escaped by cutting a hole in the fence.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)