Oklahoma

Oklahoma’s prisons are run by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (Oklahoma DOC). As of July 25, 2025, the system is fully state-operated — the state bought and took over its last privately run prison, the former Lawton Correctional Facility, and renamed it Red Rock Correctional Center. Two other formerly private prisons were converted earlier: the Davis Correctional Facility became Allen Gamble Correctional Center (2023) and Great Plains Correctional Center came under state operation (2023). People in custody are identified by a seven-digit ODOC number.

This section details Oklahoma DOC’s 18 major institutions — the maximum-, medium-, and minimum-security prisons, the two reception centers, and both women’s prisons. A separate, lower-custody tier of five Community Corrections Centers (work-release) and one contracted halfway house is noted here but not individually covered.

Where a newly sentenced person starts depends on sex. Men are received at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center (LARC) in Lexington, which processes new commitments from all 77 counties before they transfer to a permanent facility. Women are received at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center (MBCC) in McLoud, the female-only reception center, which is also a general-population women’s prison and the women’s medical and mental-health hub.

Oklahoma has an active death penalty and carries out executions regularly. Men under a death sentence and the state execution chamber are at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary (OSP) in McAlester (the H-Unit); a woman under a death sentence is held at Mabel Bassett.

A few features shape how families stay in touch. Incoming personal mail does not go to the prison — since September 1, 2024, Oklahoma routes it to an off-site Securus Digital Mail Center in Dallas, which scans letters and photos and delivers a digital image to the person’s tablet (legal mail, publications, and packages still go to the facility). Phones, tablets, messaging, and video visits run through Securus; trust-account deposits go through JPay. Health care is provided in-house by Oklahoma DOC Health Services. The agency is governed by the Board of Corrections — Oklahoma has no independent corrections ombudsman.

Visits are scheduled in advance through a single statewide Visitation Unit (no walk-ins), and every visitor must first be approved on the incarcerated person’s list. Use the guides below for the statewide rules, or go straight to a specific facility.