From Staff ReportsCiting the state's current budget shortfall, Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh announced Thursday his agency will enact a hiring freeze. The freeze does not include correctional, probation and parole officers, nor does it include medical and food service staff, according to a news release. The department will refrain from filling nearly 350 empty positions throughout the department. In a letter sent departmentwide on Thursday, Allbaugh instructed employees to halt the hiring of staff outside those excluded in the freeze, and that requests "to fill any position deemed critical to core functions must be submitted through the appropriate chain of command for consideration.Read more on NewsOK.com