Budget Overview
Oklahoma Department of Corrections FY2024 at a glance.
ODOC Total Budget
FY2024
Source: Oklahoma Senate Budget Review
Annual Cost Per Prisoner
$67.53 per day
Source: ODOC FY2024
Taxpayer Funded
$585.3M from Oklahoma taxpayers
Source: ODOC FY2024
Daily Cost Breakdown
Every day an Oklahoman is incarcerated costs taxpayers $67.53.
$67.53
Per day, per prisoner
3 days of groceries for a family of 4
A full tank of gas
A month of school lunches for 2 children
What else could $67.53 buy for an Oklahoma family?
Prison vs Community Sentencing
Oklahoma pays 15.2x more to imprison someone than to supervise them in the community.
Prison
$24,648
$67.53/day
15.2x
more expensive
Community Sentencing
$1,621
$4.44/day
Where the Money Comes From
91% of the corrections budget is funded directly by Oklahoma taxpayers.
91%
Taxpayer
Taxpayer Funded — 91%
$585,312,000
Other Revenue — 9%
$57,888,000
Reform Budget Calculator
Explore how redirecting prisoners to community sentencing could fund Oklahoma education.
Reform Budget Calculator
Slide to explore how shifting prisoners to community sentencing could redirect funds to Oklahoma K-12 education.
Prison cost saved
$144,807,000
5,875 prisoners x $24,648/yr
Community sentencing cost
$9,523,375
5,875 x $1,621/yr
Net annual savings
$135,283,625
K-12 Education Reinvestment
Per-student increase
+$193
New per-student spend
$11,504
Spending improvement
+1.7%
Cost Per Person: Prison vs Community
Prison is 15.2x more expensive
The Projection
Without reform, Oklahoma’s corrections costs will surge by 2028.
Current (2024)
23,498 prisoners
$643,200,000
Projected (2028)
31,000 prisoners
$764,088,000
+$120,888,000 per year by 2028
Without reform, Oklahoma will add 7,502 more prisoners and spend an additional $120,888,000 annually on corrections.
What $643,200,000 Could Fund Instead
If Oklahoma redirected its corrections budget, here is what it could achieve.
26,000
Teacher salaries ($25K raises)
67,000
K-12 students’ annual costs ($11,311 each)
128,600
College scholarships ($5,000 each)
4
New hospitals ($160M each)
321
New schools ($2M each)
3 years
Full Medicaid expansion coverage