Okla. Stat. tit. 57, § 57-510

duties.

A. The Director of the Department of Corrections shall have the

following specific powers and duties relating to the penal

institutions:

1. To appoint, subject to the approval of the State Board of

Corrections, a warden for each penal institution;

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2. To fix the duties of the wardens and to appoint and fix the

duties and compensation of such other personnel for each penal

institution as may be necessary for the proper operation thereof.

However, correctional officers hired after November 1, 1995, shall

be subject to the following qualifications:

a. the minimum age for service shall be twenty (20) years

of age. The Director shall have the authority to

establish the maximum age for correctional officers

entering service,

b. possession of a minimum of thirty (30) semester hours

from an accredited college or university, or

possession of a high school diploma acquired from an

accredited high school or GED equivalent testing

program,

c. satisfactory completion of minimum testing or

professional evaluation through the Merit System of

Personnel Administration to determine the fitness of

the individual to serve in the position. All written

evaluations shall be submitted to the Department of

Corrections, and

d. satisfactory completion of a physical in keeping with

the conditions of the job description on an annual

basis and along the guidelines as established by the

Department of Corrections;

3. The Director shall designate as correctional peace officers,

correctional officers who are employed in job classifications of

correctional security officer, correctional security manager,

correctional chief of security and chief of security upon

satisfactory completion of a basic course of instruction for

correctional officers, as provided for in paragraph 4 of this

subsection. The peace officer authority of employees designated as

correctional peace officers shall be limited to: maintaining

custody of prisoners; preventing attempted escapes; pursuing,

recapturing and incarcerating escapees and parole or probation

violators and arresting such escapees, parole or probation

violators; serving warrants; carrying firearms; preventing

contraband from entering any penal institution; arresting

individuals who commit crimes at any penal institution; and

performing any duties specifically required for the job

descriptions. Such powers and duties of correctional peace officers

may be exercised for the purpose of maintaining custody, security,

and control of any prisoner being transported inside and outside

this state as authorized by the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act and

the Interstate Corrections Compact. The Director may implement

policies that place additional limitations on the authority of

correctional peace officers. The Director shall issue an

identification card to each correctional peace officer that

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identifies the person as a correctional peace officer and grants the

person the authority to carry a firearm and make arrests pursuant to

this paragraph. Should a correctional peace officer terminate

employment for any reason, fail to remain qualified as a

correctional peace officer or for reasons stated in policies of the

Department, the correctional peace officer shall return the

identification card to the supervisor of the correctional peace

officer immediately;

4. To develop and implement, upon approval of the State Board

of Corrections, a basic course of instruction for correctional

officers that consists of a training academy that provides not less

than two hundred (200) hours of core curriculum instruction and a

firearms training program that provides not less than twenty (20)

hours of instruction. The basic course of instruction shall be

subject to the following:

a. the minimum qualifying score that must be shot to pass
a basic course of instruction for correctional

officers that consists of a training academy that provides not less

than two hundred (200) hours of core curriculum instruction and a

firearms training program that provides not less than twenty (20)

hours of instruction. The basic course of instruction shall be

subject to the following:

a. the minimum qualifying score that must be shot to pass

the firearms training program shall be equal to the

minimum qualifying score required by the Council on

Law Enforcement Education and Training for peace

officers, and

b. the Director may waive any number of hours or courses

required to complete the basic course of instruction

for any person who, in the opinion of the Director,

has received sufficient training or experience that

such hours of instruction would be unduly burdensome

or duplicative; however, completion of the firearms

training program shall not be waived;

5. To develop and implement annual in-service training for

correctional officers that consists of at least forty (40) hours of

continued corrections education and annual recertification of

firearms proficiency. The minimum qualifying score that must be

shot to requalify for recertification of firearms proficiency shall

be equal to the minimum qualifying score required by the Council on

Law Enforcement Education and Training for the requalification of

peace officers;

6. To require any person employed as a correctional security

officer, correctional security manager, correctional chief of

security, and chief of security to remain qualified as a

correctional peace officer. Any correctional peace officer who is

unable to remain qualified as a correctional peace officer may be

offered an available position within the Department in the same or

lesser pay grade for which the employee is eligible, or the employee

may be terminated. When an employee who is commissioned as a

correctional peace officer by the Department voluntarily moves into

a position which does not require correctional peace officer status,

the Director may allow the employee to maintain his or her

correctional peace officer status;

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7. To authorize other employees of the Department to carry

firearms anywhere in the state to use for self-defense pursuant to

and consistent with policies developed by the Department upon

satisfactory completion of the firearms training program provided

for in paragraph 4 of this subsection. The Director shall issue an

identification card to each authorized employee that grants the

employee the authority to carry a firearm pursuant to the provisions

of this paragraph. Should an authorized employee terminate

employment for any reason, fail to remain qualified to carry a

firearm, or for reasons stated in the policies of the Department,

the authorized employee shall immediately return the identification

card to the supervisor of the employee and shall no longer be

authorized to carry firearms under the authority of this paragraph;

8. To maintain such industries, factories, plants, shops,

farms, and other enterprises and operations, hereinafter referred to

as prison industries, at each penal institution as the State Board

of Corrections deems necessary or appropriate to employ the

prisoners or teach skills, or to sustain the penal institution; and

as provided for by policies established by the State Board of

Corrections, to allow compensation for the work of the prisoners,

and to provide for apportionment of inmate wages, the amounts thus

allowed to be kept in accounts by the Board for the prisoners and

given to the inmates upon discharge from the penal institution, or,

upon an order, paid to their families or dependents or used for the

personal needs of the prisoners. Any industry that employs

prisoners shall be deemed a "State Prison Industry" if the prisoners
nd to provide for apportionment of inmate wages, the amounts thus

allowed to be kept in accounts by the Board for the prisoners and

given to the inmates upon discharge from the penal institution, or,

upon an order, paid to their families or dependents or used for the

personal needs of the prisoners. Any industry that employs

prisoners shall be deemed a "State Prison Industry" if the prisoners

are paid from state funds including the proceeds of goods sold as

authorized by Section 123f of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

Any industry in which wages of prisoners are paid by a

nongovernmental person, group, or corporation, except those

industries employing prisoners in work-release centers under the

authority of the Department of Corrections, shall be deemed a

"Private Prison Industry";

9. To assign residences at each penal institution to penal

institutional personnel and their families;

10. To provide for the education, training, vocational

education, rehabilitation, and recreation of prisoners;

11. To regulate the operation of canteens for prisoners;

12. To prescribe rules for the conduct, management, and

operation of each penal institution including rules for the demeanor

of prisoners, the punishment of recalcitrant prisoners, the

treatment of incorrigible prisoners, and the disposal of property or

contraband seized from inmates or offenders under the supervision of

the Department;

13. To transfer prisoners from one penal institution to

another;

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14. To establish procedures that ensure inmates are educated

and provided with the opportunity to execute advance directives for

health care in compliance with Section 3101.2 of Title 63 of the

Oklahoma Statutes. The procedures shall ensure that any inmate

executing an advance directive for health care is competent and

executes the directive with informed consent;

15. To maintain courses of training and instruction for

employees of the Department;

16. To maintain a program of research and statistics;

17. To provide for the periodic audit, at least once annually,

of all funds and accounts of each penal institution and the funds of

each prisoner;

18. To provide, subject to rules established by the State Board

of Corrections, for the utilization of inmate labor for any agency

of the state, city, town, or subdivision of this state, upon the

duly authorized request for such labor by the agency. The inmate

labor shall not be used to reduce employees or replace regular

maintenance or operations of the agency. The inmate labor shall be

used solely for public or state purposes. No inmate labor shall be

used for private use or purpose. Insofar as it is practicable, all

inmate labor shall be of such a nature and designed to assist and

aid in the rehabilitation of inmates performing the labor;

19. To provide clerical services for, and keep and preserve the

files and records of, the Pardon and Parole Board; make

investigations and inquiries as to prisoners at the penal

institutions who are to be, or who might be, considered for parole

or other clemency; assist prisoners who are to be, or who might be,

considered for parole or discharge in obtaining suitable employment

in the event of parole or discharge; report to the Pardon and Parole

Board, for recommendation to the Governor, violations of terms and

conditions of paroles; upon request of the Governor, make

investigations and inquiries as to persons who are to be, or who

might be, considered for reprieves or leaves of absence; report to

the Pardon and Parole Board, for recommendation to the Governor,

whether a parolee is entitled to a pardon, when the terms and

conditions of the parole have been completed; make presentence

investigations for, and make reports thereof to, trial judges in

criminal cases consistent with other laws of the state; supervise

persons on felony probation or parole; and develop and operate,
report to

the Pardon and Parole Board, for recommendation to the Governor,

whether a parolee is entitled to a pardon, when the terms and

conditions of the parole have been completed; make presentence

investigations for, and make reports thereof to, trial judges in

criminal cases consistent with other laws of the state; supervise

persons on felony probation or parole; and develop and operate,

subject to the policies and guidelines of the Board, work-release

centers, community treatment facilities or prerelease programs at

appropriate sites throughout this state;

20. To establish an employee tuition assistance program and

promulgate rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedures

Act for the operation of the program. The rules shall include, but

not be limited to, program purposes, eligibility requirements, use

of tuition assistance, service commitment to the Department,

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reimbursement of tuition assistance funds for failure to complete

course work or service commitment, amounts of tuition assistance and

limitations, and record keeping;

21. To establish an employee recruitment and referral incentive

program and promulgate rules in accordance with the Administrative

Procedures Act for the operation of the program. The rules shall

include, but not be limited to, program purposes, pay incentives for

employees, eligibility requirements, payment conditions and amounts,

payment methods, and record keeping;

22. To provide reintegration referral services to any person

discharged from the state custody who has volunteered to receive

reintegration referral services. The Director may assign staff to

refer persons discharged from state custody to services. The

Director shall promulgate rules for the referral process. All

reintegration referral services shall be subject to the availability

of funds;

23. To conduct continual planning and research and periodically

evaluate the effectiveness of the various correctional programs

instituted by the Department; manage the designing, building, and

maintaining of all the capital improvements of the Department;

establish and maintain current and efficient business, bookkeeping,

and accounting practices and procedures for the operations of all

penal institutions and facilities, and for the Department's fiscal

affairs; conduct initial orientation and continuing in-service

training for the Department employees; provide public information

services; inspect and examine the condition and management of state

penal and correctional institutions; investigate complaints

concerning the management of prisons or alleged mistreatment of

inmates thereof; and hear and investigate complaints as to

misfeasance or nonfeasance of employees of the Department;

24. To authorize any division of the Department to sell

advertising in any Department-approved publication, media production

or other informational material produced by the Department;

provided, that such advertising shall be approved by the Director or

designee prior to acceptance for publication. The sale of

advertising and negotiation of rates for the advertising shall not

be subject to The Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act or the

Administrative Procedures Act. The Department shall promulgate

rules establishing criteria for accepting or using advertisements as

authorized in this paragraph;

25. To issue subpoenas to assist or further investigations into

allegations of crimes committed in public or private prisons within

this state. Subpoenas issued by the Director shall be enforced by

the District Court in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma;

26. To authorize award of the badge of an employee who dies

while employed by the Department to the spouse or next of kin of the

deceased employee;

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27. To establish, in conjunction with the Information Services
in

this state. Subpoenas issued by the Director shall be enforced by

the District Court in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma;

26. To authorize award of the badge of an employee who dies

while employed by the Department to the spouse or next of kin of the

deceased employee;

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27. To establish, in conjunction with the Information Services

Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, an

emergency alert notification system for the public, capable of

distributing notifications of facility emergencies or prisoner

escapes for all facilities and each facility of the Department of

Corrections;

28. To declare an emergency when, due to shortage of staff,

correctional officers at a facility are required to work more than

two double shifts in a seven-day period. As used in this paragraph,

"double shift" means two eight-hour shifts in a twenty-four-hour

period; and

29. To enter into contracts with media or film production

companies to allow the Department to authorize a media or film

production company to shoot commercial films at penal institutions

and other property under the control of the Department. Any funds

received pursuant to said contracts shall be deposited into the

Department of Corrections Revolving Fund.

B. When an employee of the Department of Corrections has been

charged with a violation of the rules of the Department or with a

felony pursuant to the provisions of a state or federal statute, the

Director may, in the Director's discretion, suspend the charged

employee, in accordance with the Oklahoma Personnel Act and/or the

Merit System of Personnel Administration Rules, pending the hearing

and final determination of the charges. Notice of suspension shall

be given by the Director, in accordance with the provisions of the

Oklahoma Personnel Act. If after completion of the investigation of

the charges, it is determined that such charges are without merit or

are not sustained before the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission or

in a court of law, the employee shall be reinstated and shall be

entitled to receive all lost pay and benefits.

This subsection shall in no way deprive an employee of the right

of appeal according to the Oklahoma Personnel Act.