

In one instance, documents revealed that 21 inmates were packed into a single cell, listed as Cell No. Inspection documents indicate the facility “failed to ensure the number of inmates in a cell did not exceed the rated cell capacity for 1 of 2 cells measured for capacity,” a December 2019 inspection report said. Problems with the facility are longstanding. However, during its December 2019 inspection, 347 inmates were housed there. Records show the jail was designed to hold 283 inmates.

That order noted the facility had a 28 percent positive test rate for Covid-19 among the 363 tests administered. On May 16, the facility was placed under a quarantine compliance order by the State Health Department. Corrections department officials announced they were transferring inmates who had tested negative for the coronavirus to a facility in Sayre. This week, DOC officials stepped in to assist staff at the facility after the jail reported that 128 inmates and staff had tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. Health Department Inspection reports obtained by the Southwest Ledger along with interviews with a former staff member and a current inmate of the facility, show a pattern of overcrowding, hygiene problems and a lack of medical screenings. LAWTON - Regularly overcrowded and unhygienic, the Comanche County Detention Center did little to fight the Covid-19 outbreak and, instead, packed inmates into overcrowded cells and break rooms, state documents show.
