No.
In July 2025, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections purchased the last privately owned prison operating in the state, officially bringing all of Oklahoma’s correctional operations under public management.
The $312 million acquisition followed contract negotiations with the GEO Group in which the former owners requested an additional $3 million despite already having received a $6.8 million increase in funding since 2020 without any operations improvements.
Despite the supposed end to state prison contracts, the state made a $74 million deal to outsource Oklahoma’s prison food service to the Trinity Services Group in May 2025.
The contract was voided in June due to a competitor’s protest letter rather than concerns over other states’ issues with prison food contractors–according to an agency spokeswoman, plans to outsource food service operations continue.
The state also recently signed a contract with CoreCivic that will reopen a closed Watonga private prison as a federal ICE detention center.
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Oklahoma Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.
Sources
- Oklahoma Department of Corrections Oklahoma Department of Corrections finalizes purchase of Lawton facility
- Oklahoma Department of Corrections ODOC responds to The GEO Group's discontinuation letter
- Oklahoma Watch Oklahoma’s Prison Food Service Contract Voided
- KOCO News 5 – Oklahoma City Oklahoma private prison to reopen as ICE detention facility
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