By Graham Lee Brewer
The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
TULSA, Okla. — The Oklahoma Corrections Department has voluntarily given federal investigators information the agency obtained regarding allegations officers at a private halfway house staged fights between inmates.
Amid three internal affairs investigations into the facility, the department sent a letter to Avalon Corrections Services Inc. on Jan. 14, which said it is freezing the number of Oklahoma offenders it sends to the company’s facilities and allowing 10 days to transfer all 212 individuals in the Avalon Correctional Center, a 390-bed halfway house in Tulsa.
Last week, most of those inmates were transferred to other facilities. A few others were released or placed on GPS monitoring. The center currently houses no state offenders.
Department spokesman Jerry Massie confirmed Friday internal affairs gave federal investigators the findings of their investigation into the allegations of fighting because of the possibility of civil rights violations at the center falls under federal purview.
Oklahoma Watch reported Thursday state Corrections Department Interim Director Ed Evans told a House committee Tuesday about the sharing of information and that he was under the impression a federal investigation had been opened.
FBI spokesman Rick Rains said it was their policy not to comment on the status or existence of any investigations.
Tulsa Attorney Louis Bullock previously told The Oklahoman he planned to pursue a civil rights lawsuit against Avalon. He said after discussion with multiple parties he believes the fights were regularly condoned by staff.
“It tells me that this event was sanctioned, and it supports the view that these types of fights were not exceptional,” Bullock said.