Stitt appoints corrections director

Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday appointed a new director to oversee the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, following the previous director's abrupt departure.

Scott Crow, who has been with the department for more than 20 years and served as interim director since June, will lead the state agency that oversees Oklahoma’s correctional facilities.

The department's previous director, Joe Allbaugh, abruptly resigned at a Board of Corrections meeting in June. At the time, Crow, who served as the department’s chief of operations, stepped into the interim director role.

In a news release, Stitt praised Crow for his strong leadership at the agency leading up to when Oklahoma released more than 450 low-level, nonviolent drug and property crime offenders last month.

“Crow successfully led the agency to accomplish major initiatives, such as the inaugural re-entry fairs ahead of the HB 1269 commutation release," Stitt said. "Crow is strengthening morale among employees and setting goals to modernize operations, and he is the right person to receive the appointment to be the next director of ODOC.”

Crow joined the department as a special investigator supervisor in 1996. Before that, he worked in local law enforcement in southwest Oklahoma. He was the assistant police chief in Cache and served as a captain in the Comanche County Sheriff's Department.

“This is a post I accept with humility, a sense of duty, no illusions of the work that lies ahead — and an eye toward what works in corrections," Crow said.

The Corrections Department has more than 4,300 employees at 24 facilities across the state. The corrections system is currently home to about 25,000 inmates with another 31,000 people under community supervision.

Crow's appointment is contingent on approval from the state Senate.