BY GRAHAM LEE BREWER gbrewer@opubco.com
LEXINGTON — A female case manager at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington was assaulted Friday by an inmate, resulting in a broken nose.
After an inmate was released from the segregated housing unit Friday, he went to speak with the case manager and then assaulted her inside her office, said Sean Wallace, head of Oklahoma Corrections Professionals, an organization that represents the state's corrections workers.
Joseph Harp is the state's largest medium security facility, housing about 1,400 male inmates.
While case workers in state prisons are classified as nonhazardous employees, they work closely with inmates and it is not uncommon for them to spend time alone with offenders.
Wallace said staffing at Harp, like in many of the state's prisons, has decreased over recent years, partly because of low pay.
Pay for a correctional officer in Oklahoma starts at $11.83 per hour.
According to Wallace, the case manager was working in a unit that houses 160 inmates, and only one correctional officer was in the unit at the time of the assault.
“Five or six years ago there would have been five or six employees on that unit,” Wallace said.
“Staff is upset.
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