“This decision to move the State Auditor from the Capitol was made, to my knowledge, by the project manager for the Capitol Restoration Project. The Capitol Repair Oversight Committee has never discussed moving the State Auditor from the Capitol. Neither has the Oklahoma House of Representatives ever held any discussions on moving the State Auditor from the Capitol.
​   No legislative member that I have talked to has any recollection of ever discussing this move. . I am very disappointed in the way this decision was made. This is a discussion that not only should have included all invested parties in the restoration of the Capitol Building, but also any subsequent decision should have been made using the proper protocol and procedures.”

Gary Jones

Earlier this week, State Auditor, Gary Jones, announced the notice he was unceremoniously given, telling him that his office has to be out of the premises next Summer. Here is Jones' statement;   "Since the Oklahoma State Capitol was built the Oklahoma State Auditor's office has had an office there. Sadly we were just notified that after the next legislative session we are being told to vacate and find rental space somewhere else at an additional cost to taxpayers of $70,000 annually. We are not happy! This decision was made by the House, Senate, and Office of Management Services with no input from our office. Please share!" On the same day that the Capitol Project Manager evicted the State Auditor's Office from the capitol, He commented about his own accommodations and the view out his window, in the capitol.

Flashback: 2014 Donations From Private Prison Interests
from the Huffington Post

— are the primary donors to political campaigns in Oklahoma.

​​An April 2012 email from a private prison lobbyist shows he sought a meeting with the governor on behalf of GEO President John Hurley and other executives.

“We would like to hear your thoughts on JRI and future impact on corrections,” lobbyist Brett Robinson wrote.

That email is among more than 8,000 documents released by Fallin’s office in response to Open Records requests regarding Oklahoma’s stalled prison reform laws enacted in 2012 under House Bill 3052. The records also show an internal document from Fallin’s office that listed a “possible concern” of HB 3052:

“Excludes private facilities,” the email notes.

In March 2013, Avalon Chief Operating Officer Brian Costello sent Fallin’s staff an email outlining his company’s campaign to house the inmates sent to intermediate sanctions facilities under the prison reform law, something they began requesting in 2011.

Fallin’s campaign committee is the top recipient of corporate corrections funding, receiving $38,250, through Sept. 30, records show.

.....

House Speaker T.W. Shannon ranks No. 2 in corporate corrections donations, with a combined $35,950 contributed to his campaign committee and a fund that finances the Oklahoma Speaker’s Ball.

The three private prison companies donated between $5,000 and $10,000 in late 2012 and early 2013 to the Oklahoma Speaker’s Ball, Inc., the committee that finances the annual event.

Up-to-date contributions to the 2014 Speaker’s Ball were not available as political action committees have until Jan. 31 to file timely disclosure reports reflecting fourth quarter 2013 transactions.

.........

Republican state Sen. Clark Jolley ranks third among active, elected officials in private prison donations, receiving $29,301.

Jolley said Avalon Correctional Services and its CEO are located in his district and have been constituents for some time. The company is concerned about the way private prison companies have been treated during the past several years, especially regarding halfway houses, he said.

“I suspect that a good part is reflected because of that,” Jolley said.

Overall, Avalon Correctional Services leads the three corrections companies in political spending, contributing $156,085 to political campaigns and related interests since 2004.

The Geo Group Inc. was close behind, donating $143,411 to political committees.

Lobbyists who represented both Avalon Correctional Services and Corrections Corporation of America at the same time donated $63,450 to political campaigns. CCA employees and lobbyists hired by the Nashville-based company donated another $51,000 to various political causes.

Prison companies have donated $17,500 to state Treasurer Ken Miller’s campaigns, $14,500 to Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb and $12,250 to Insurance Commissioner John Doak, all Republicans.

Former gubernatorial candidate Jari Askins led Democratic Party recipients with $11,150 in receipts for her political campaigns.

Lobbyists provided about $136,497 in funding with the balance, about $278,000, coming directly from employees of prison companies or their PACs.

 A the New York Times said; "he had been frustrated that he was unable to see an emergency-room physician for reasons related to his mental health. ' He went to the E.R. and was denied service,' one of the people, who currently works at the hospital, said. 'And then he went to his car and shot himself.'”

Who would you vote for?

​"We ask voters what the chance is that they will vote for Trump, Clinton or someone else, using a 0-100 scale. The overall level of support for each candidate reflects the weighted average of those responses."