ODOC's General Counsel advises and represents the Director, Oklahoma Board of Corrections, and ODOC administrators on all legal matters pertaining to the agency, its staff and inmates, including litigation, personnel, operations, contracts and policy. The General Counsel oversees ODOC's Legal Division, which includes the agency's Assistant General Counsels, associated support staff, PREA Coordinator and the Administrative Review Authority.
Administration
Address:
3400 Martin Luther King Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73111-4298
Phone: 405-425-2515
Legal Assistant
Charles Shepherd
Administrative Assistant
Misty Haydel
Records Management Specialist
Any employee desiring representation must complete this form in its digital format and send it via email to legal@doc.ok.gov or via mail to:
Office of the General Counsel
3400 N. Martin Luther King Ave
Oklahoma City, OK 73111
Request for Representation
Open Records Requests: send your request via email to openrecords@doc.ok.gov or via mail to:
Office of the General Counsel
3400 N. Martin Luther King Ave
Oklahoma City, OK 73111
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.
Employee Name | Title | Phone Number |
Mark Knutson |
Manager | (405) 425-2682 |
Stacey Sullivan |
Administrative Review Specialist (misconducts) |
(405) 425-2581 |
Amandia Callen |
Administrative Review Specialist (grievances) |
(405) 425-2680 |
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.
Employee Name |
Title |
Phone Number |
Elizabeth Vincent |
Assistant General Counsel |
405-425-2515 |
Benjamin Betts |
Assistant General Counsel |
405-425-2515 |
Amy Stuart-Beaver | Assistant General Counsel | 405-425-2515 |
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.
Employee Name |
Title |
Phone Number |
Carla Braggs |
PREA Coordinator |
(405) 425-7160 |
Miciah Ahrnsbrak |
Administrative Assistant |
(405) 425-2724 |
David Stenhouse
Chief Administrator
405-425-2209
Camille Walker
Administrator405-425-7123
Kelsey Lambert
Administrative Assistant
405-425-2711
Auditing and Compliance
Shelly Bear
Chief Administrator
918-581-2836
Tonia Dickerson, Manager
405-425-2625
405-425-2615
Closed Records
405-425-2691
Offender Records
Tina Petete, Coordinator
405-425-2628
Henry Underwood, Coordinator
405-425-2707
Sex Offender Registration
405-425-7601
Sex Offender Registration
Policy OP-020307
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.