Joseph Harp Correctional Center (JHCC) is an

Oklahoma Department of Corrections The Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC or ODOC) is an government agency, agency of the state of Oklahoma. DOC is responsible for the administration of the List of Oklahoma state prisons, state prison system. It has its headquarters in Oklaho ...

state prison for male inmates located in Lexington,

Cleveland County, Oklahoma Cleveland County is a County (United States), county in the Central Oklahoma, central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 295,528 at the 2020 United States census, making it the third-most populous county in Oklahoma. Its cou ...

. The medium-security facility opened in September 1978. JHCC was named for Joseph Harp. who served as warden of the

Oklahoma State Reformatory The Oklahoma State Reformatory is a medium-security facility with some maximum and minimum-security housing for adult male inmates. Located off of State Highway 9 in Granite, Oklahoma, the facility has a maximum capacity of 1042 inmates. The med ...

from 1949 to 1969. Regarded by his colleagues as an innovative leader and professional in the field of corrections, he recognized that a high school education was one of the greatest needs that many inmates had lacked which could prevent them from gaining legal employment and often times led to a life of crime. Under Harp's leadership, Oklahoma State Reformatory was one of the first correctional institutions to establish a fully-accredited high school inside prison walls."INPM Home." International Prison Ministries. Undated.
Accessed October 3, 2019. According to JHCC, 84 percent of its inmates are incarcerated for committing a violent crime, and ten percent have committed

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

. Inmates typically work in the Oklahoma Correctional Industries program, manufacturing furniture or performing data entry to convert old paper records to digital documents."Joseph Harp Correctional Center."
Accessed October 2, 2019. The center offers adult education programs and encourages inmates to earn a GED while serving their sentences. Offenders sentenced as youths for short periods typically arrive under the delayed sentence program. If the youth does well, he may qualify for release with a suspended sentence, if he does not do well, he will be formally sentenced.

Notable Inmates

*Jonathan Scott Graham - Murdered Gary Dale Larson and raped his wife Janet in Edmond, Oklahoma on August 16, 1986. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences. Story was told on season 13, episode 11 of

Forensic Files ''Forensic Files'', originally known as ''Medical Detectives'', is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was origin ...

trutv TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...

. * Robert Bever - Murdered his parents and three siblings with the help of his brother in July 22, 2015. He was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. * Jesse McFadden - Served 17 years from 2003 until 2020 for convictions of rape before released in 2020. Three years later, McFadden shot six people before killing himself in the

2023 Henryetta killings On May 1, 2023, Jesse McFadden shot and killed six people before killing himself in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, near the town of Henryetta. That day McFadden had been set to have a jury trial for other charges he faced, but after he did not app ...

. * Gordon Todd Skinner - a drug dealer who was convicted for kidnapping * Keith P. Sweeney - Former OKC police officer and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards, usually above petty officer. By country Australia "Chief Petty Officer" is the second highest non-commissioned rank in the Royal Australian Navy ...

, convicted in Dec 2019 of 2nd degree Murder. Also convicted of computer crimes in connection with possession of child pornography while incarcerated.

References

{{State prisons in Oklahoma Prisons in Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Cleveland County, Oklahoma 1978 establishments in Oklahoma