Private Prisons Buying Candidates

   Without a large volume of incarcerated Oklahomans, the business model for private prison corporations will collapse. 
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  And corporate prisons have built in a key component to their cost of operating; namely, the campaign contributions which buy them access and influence with Oklahoma politicians.  This indirectly means that Oklahoma taxpayers are footing the bill for prison contracts which include campaign funding of politicians to do the bidding of the corporate prison executives.
​  Here's an old article from the 2014 election cycle. It might offer clues as to why criminal justice reform was stalled in the Oklahoma legislature.

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

Private corrections and their supporters hand out a lot of campaign donations in Oklahoma politics. Since 2004, private corrections interests and those who represent them have spent more than $400,000 to fund various elected officials’ campaigns and political causes, a Tulsa World analysis of Ethics Commission disclosure reports shows.

The amount spent includes $50,750 in contributions for incumbents’ 2014 re-election campaigns, the analysis shows.

The $414,397 total spent ranges from a few bucks spent by lobbyists whose clients include a private corrections company to thousands spent to fund political events such as the Oklahoma Speaker’s Ball.

Three private corrections companies with operations in the state :

• Corrections Corporation of America
• The Geo Group, Inc.
• Avalon Correctional Services Inc. 

— 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.

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Top actively serving recipients of private prison contributions:

Gov. Mary Fallin $38,250

T.W. Shannon $35,950*

Sen. Clark Jolley $29,301

Treasurer Ken Miller $17,500

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb $14,500

Ins Comm. John Doak $12,250

Sen. Rob Johnson $11,250

Sen. Don Barrington $9,635

Sen. Dan Newberry $8,750

Rep. Todd Thomsen $8,400

*Includes $22,500 to Oklahoma Speaker’s Ball, Inc.(Contributions 2004 through Sept. 30, 2013)