The Administrative Review Unit reviews, investigates and responds to inmate misconduct and grievance appeals submitted for final review. This review is considered the final step in the internal administrative process. Inmates must exhaust their administrative remedies before filing litigation. Reviews conducted at the facility and departmental levels help prevent unnecessary litigation. Hundreds of inmate letters are received in Administrative Review each year along with a response forwarded for each one. This unit also trains all staff involved in disciplinary and grievance processes and serves as a contact point for field staff, family members and legislators with questions on such processes.

Nancy Watson-Ellis
Administrator
405-425-2502

The primary focus of the Employee Rights and Relations Unit is to serve the employees of the agency by providing technical expertise, knowledge, support and assistance in adherence to employment related rules/regulations, policies, procedures, laws, and in-agency practices.

The unit investigates formal discrimination grievances which come under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, sexual harassment, Americans with Disabilities Act complaints, cultural diversity and other related issues. The Employee Rights and Relations Unit is a staff service to handle all formal and informal issues.

Discrimination results when distinctions or differentiations are based on an employee’s protected class status (race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, handicap, Vietnam-era or disabled veteran) in violation of one or more employment laws that include Oklahoma Statutes, Merit Rules for Employment and federal laws, regulations, acts and orders.

The Legal Division of the General Counsel's Office consists of the General Counsel, Assistant General Counsels and support staff. These attorneys represent the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in employment-related cases; review all formal disciplinary action; defend the agency in lawsuits; assist the Litigation Division and Criminal Appeals Division of the Attorney General's Office in representing ODOC and its employees; assist agency employees in preparing for depositions and trials; review all contracts, DOC policies and procedures; advise the Board of Corrections, ODOC Director and agency employees; process all subpoenas duces tecum and open records requests; and oversee law library content at ODOC facilities, and inmates' access to courts.

The PREA Unit is responsible for ODOC’s efforts in compliance with federal laws to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual assault and sexual harassment within correctional settings. These goals are accomplished through yearly assessments at each ODOC facility, providing support to PREA Compliance Managers at each facility and working with training personnel to establish training curriculum and train staff, contractors and volunteers. The PREA Unit facilitates compliance audits at all ODOC facilities and compiles agencywide data on sexual assault and harassment. The aggregate data and audit results are published on the ODOC website and used to implement further compliance with PREA Standards.

The Sentence Administration, Offender Records, and Registries Unit ensures all offenders remanded to the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections are confined or supervised according to the order of the sentencing court. This unit serves as a centralized source of offender information for staff, the public, and for numerous state and federal agencies by using active and closed records dating prior to statehood. Responsible for monitoring the time calculation records of inmates assigned to private prisons, maintains the statewide sex and violent crime registries, and directs the statewide quality assurance and audit processes for time calculation, classification and case management. The administrator is the departmental authority in matters of time credits, sentence interpretation, calculation of offender release dates, and is responsible for clarifying and developing policy and procedures related to sentence administration and offender records management.

This unit also ensures statutory requirements are applied in a consistent manner regarding the application of credits, the sequence of sentences, and the treatment of court orders.

Sentence Administration auditors visit each facility/district in their region every six-to-eight weeks to review field records for conformance with established procedures concerning time computation, document interpretation, file maintenance, and provide training and technical expertise as needed.