Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 1 - EXECUTIVE ORDERS › Section 1:2019-41

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
Executive Order 2019-41
Whereas, on Saturday, September 14, 2019, riotous behavior
			 involving approximately 150 to 200 inmates in one Oklahoma prison was initiated
			 by inmate gang leaders and gang members and spread to five additional Oklahoma
			 prisons nearly simultaneously during the afternoon of Sunday, September 15,
			 2019, facilitated by communication between inmates through the use of
			 contraband cellphones resulting in all prisons in the system being placed on
			 lockdown; and
Whereas, at this time compelling evidence exists that riotous
			 behavior may resume when the current state-wide lockdown is lifted; and
Whereas, the proliferation of contraband cellphones in Oklahoma
			 prisons constitutes an ongoing, serious, and eminent public safety threat;
			 and
Whereas, contraband cellphones are used to facilitate criminal
			 activity in and out of prisons including initiating and spreading riotous
			 behavior within and across multiple prisons; and
Whereas, the targets of a significant number of wire intercepts
			 sought by State law enforcement agents and approved by judges are inmates in
			 state prisons using contraband cellphones to engage in criminal activity, often
			 as part of complex criminal organizations; and
Whereas, the wire intercepts of inmate conversations on
			 contraband cellphones oftencapture evidence of crimes ranging from drug
			 trafficking to fraud to conspiracy to commit murder; and
Whereas, despite considerable effort by the Oklahoma Department
			 of Corrections to prevent cellphones from entering facilities and to confiscate
			 contraband cellphones found in facilities the threat these devices pose
			 persists unabated; and
Whereas, the considerable efforts of the executive, legislative
			 and judicial branches of government continue to be inadequate to stop or even
			 curtail the overwhelming challenge and significant threat of contraband
			 cellphones; and
Whereas, technologies exists that are capable of mitigating the
			 public safety threat posed by contraband cellphones;
Now therefore, I, J. Kevin Stitt, Governor of the State of
			 Oklahoma, pursuant to the power and authority vested in me by Sections 1 and 2
			 of Article VI of the Oklahoma Constitution, hereby order the Oklahoma Secretary
			 of Public Safety, the Oklahoma Secretary of Digital Transformation and
			 Administration, and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to immediately
			 undertake all necessary efforts to research and explore the availability,
			 benefits, costs, practicality, efficacy, liability, and legality of all
			 technology solutions capable of mitigating in whole or in part, to the greatest
			 extent possible, the public safety threat of contraband cellphones in Oklahoma
			 prisons and correctional facilities including geo-location systems, cellphone
			 jammers, micro cellphone jammers, controlled access systems and hybrid systems;
			 and
I further order the Department to acquire the technology or
			 technologies determined by the secretaries and the Department to be the most
			 cost-effective deterrents to contraband cellphones and, as necessary, to
			 actively seek and obtain all legal authorizations required for the use of any
			 technologies requiring the same, and to deploy such technology solutions in
			 those facilities or parts of facilities identified by the Department as
			 necessary to accomplish the purpose of this Executive Order; and
I further order the secretaries and the Department to work with
			 Oklahoma's Congressional delegation and Federal agencies as necessary to
			 determine what actions are being taken by the Federal government in Federal
			 correctional facilities to eliminate this crisis of contraband cellphones;
			 and
I further order the secretaries and the Department to research
			 the liability of cellphone service companies that provide cellphone service to
			 or for contraband cellphones and develop a plan to hold those companies
			 accountable; and
I further order the secretaries and the Department to proceed
			 with utmost urgency, consistent with all applicable laws and the public safety
			 and welfare of Oklahoma citizens; and
I further order that the secretaries and the Department regularly
			 report to me on the progress of carrying out the requirements of this Executive
			 Order, including on the identification, acquisition and use of technology to
			 mitigate the threat posed by contraband cellphones, and any obstacles to
			 acquiring and using the necessary technology or technologies.
This Executive Order shall be distributed to the Secretaries of
			 Public Safety, and Digital Transformation and Administration, and the Interim
			 Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, who shall cause the
			 provisions of this Order to be implemented forthwith.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF
, I have hereunto set my hand and
			 caused the Great Seal of the State of Oklahoma to be affixed at Oklahoma City
			 this 27th day of September, 2019.
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
J. Kevin Stitt
ATTEST:
Michael Rogers
Secretary of State