Gov. Stitt appoints Scott Crow as new director of ODOC

GOVERNOR STITT APPOINTS CROW AS DIRECTOR OF OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Oklahoma City, Okla. (Dec. 6, 2019) – Governor Kevin Stitt announced today the appointment of Scott Crow as the next agency director for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC), a position that will require Senate confirmation in the 2020 legislative session.

“While interim director, Scott Crow stepped forward as a visionary and strong leader for the Department of Corrections,” Stitt said. “Crow successfully led the agency to accomplish major initiatives, such as the inaugural re-entry fairs ahead of the HB 1269 commutation release. 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.” 

“It is an honor to serve Governor Stitt, the people of Oklahoma and staff of this great agency,” Crow said. “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. I look forward to continue assisting the governor as we manage and improve this critical agency, and help make Oklahoma a Top Ten state – and ODOC a Top Ten state correctional agency.”

Since June 2019, Crow has served as ODOC Interim Director. Crow has been with the agency since April 1996, when he was hired as a Special Investigator Supervisor. Before ODOC, he worked in law enforcement in southwest Oklahoma, from officer-level up to leadership, including as a captain with the Comanche County Sheriff’s Department and Assistant Police Chief for the City of Cache.

As director, Crow will continue to lead the agency’s more than 4,300 employees working in its 24 facilities stretched across Oklahoma, as well as Probation and Parole Services and Community Corrections.

As of Thursday morning, the system was home to 25,168 inmates, with another 31,915 under community supervision and 548 in county jails awaiting housing in prison.