Criminal Justice

A look back at criminal justice reform in Oklahoma

September 27, 2019

Kaitlyn Finley

At the turn of the century, many states’ prison populations and corrections expenditures continued to climb, despite falling crime rates. To combat this situation, in 2007 the Council of State Governments Justice Center created the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI). This broad initiative sought to gather state correctional data with assistance from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the U.S. Department of Justice, and The Pew Charitable Trusts to craft targeted criminal justice reform (CJR) policies, with collaboration from state policymakers. Thirty-five states, including Oklahoma, have participated in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative since its founding.

According to data from Pew, these states have passed significant CJR legislation, changing sentencing, pretrial policies, and parole. The Pew Charitable Trusts has outlined what broad measures have been adopted since JRI’s origin (see chart).   


Oklahoma: CJR Timeline

In 2009, Oklahoma had the third-highest incarceration rate in the country and was dedicating a significant portion of state spending to corrections, with no slowdown in sight. With this in mind, some Oklahoma state officials saw a growing need to reform Oklahoma’s criminal justice system.

In 2011, Oklahoma policymakers collaborated with JRI to gather state correctional data and propose new reforms. During the following legislative session, in 2012, Oklahoma’s then- Governor Mary Fallin signed into law House Bill 3052 with the aim of lowering Oklahoma’s incarceration rate and safely reducing its nonviolent prison population.

House Bill 3052 created an intermediate revocation facility for temporary confinement of offenders who have violated the terms of their probation, increased post-release supervision of offenders, and mandated mental health and substance abuse screening for those convicted of a felony, as well as a few other reforms. However, the Oklahoma legislature faced difficulties securing funding for implementation of HB 3052, and some of these reforms were not in fact implemented.

In another push for criminal justice reform, Governor Fallin issued an executive order to create the Oklahoma Justice Reform Task Force in 2016. In their final report, issued in February 2017, the task force submitted 27 policy reforms to the legislature. Many of the policy recommendations focused again on strengthening post-release supervisions, focusing more corrections resources on violent offenders, and modifying sentencing for nonviolent crimes.

A handful of these recommendations passed the legislature and have been signed into law, such as the creation of administrative parole, which allows for a more streamlined parole process for certain nonviolent offenders (HB 2286, passed in 2018). Unfortunately, other bills recommended by the task force have stalled in the legislature in previous sessions. For instance, SB 421, proposed this past session by Sen. Stephanie Bice (R-Piedmont) and Rep. Garry Mize (R-Guthrie), would have clarified and standardized the criteria necessary for a drug possession and distribution conviction. The bill cleared the Senate but failed to pass in the House.


Past Policy Reforms

In the years since Oklahoma joined JRI, Oklahoma lawmakers, with approval from then-Governor Fallin and Governor Kevin Stitt, have passed more than 20 significant CJR measures aimed at reducing the state’s high incarceration rate. Below is a selection of key CJR measures signed into law.

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019


Policy Recommendations

Offer Earned Compliance Credits: Probation and Parole. Currently Oklahoma does not allow “good behavior” earned credits for those on parole or probation to go towards reducing the rest of their sentence. Improving compliance for probationers and parolees could have a substantial impact Oklahoma’s supervision resources and funding.

In their 2017 report, the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Task Force found that “more than half of probation revocations and 37 percent of parole revocations were for technical violations.” According to research compiled by The Pew Charitable Trusts, earned good behavior credits have been shown to increase compliance with supervision conditions.

Sixteen other states that have implemented earned compliance credits during probation and parole have seen positive results. For example, in 2008, the Arizona legislature passed the Safe Communities Act, which established earned time credits for offenders who complied with the terms of their probation or parole, and since then Arizona has seen a 29 percent decline in probation revocations to prison.

Modify ‘85 Percent Law’ for Nonviolent Offenses. Codified in 1999, Oklahoma lawmakers passed legislation which requires certain offenders to serve 85 percent of their sentences before they are eligible for parole. Most crimes on the “85 percent” list are serious violent offenses, including rape, first-degree murder, and child abuse; however, also included are aggravated drug trafficking and manufacturing. The 2017 task force report notes that those “sentenced to prison for drug crimes covered under the 85% statute… take up a significant amount of prison resources without commensurate public safety return.” Members of the task force recommended that those in the 85% category with nonviolent offenses, like drug trafficking, should be allowed to be transferred to electronic monitoring when 70 percent of their sentence has been served.

Standardize Oklahoma Drug Possession Laws. Current Oklahoma law is vague about what factors must be present for drug possession with the intent to distribute (PWID). This has raised concerns about inconsistent sentencing across Oklahoma’s counties. As noted earlier, SB 421 would have addressed these issues by clarifying what factors and how many factors, including possession of a firearm, large amounts of cash, and a few others, must be necessary to charge someone with PWID. This session, Oklahoma lawmakers should again consider approval of legislation like SB 421 in order to bring clarity to Oklahoma’s drug laws.

More Reforms to Come. Earlier this year, through executive order, Governor Stitt created the Criminal Justice Reentry, Supervision, Treatment and Opportunity Reform (RESTORE) Task Force. The 15-member panel, which began meeting in June, will meet throughout this fall and will “look to how to reduce Oklahoma’s incarceration rate, reduce the recidivism rate, and enhance and establish diversion programs,” according to the Stitt administration. The task force is set to provide specific recommendations to the Legislature by December 6, in time for the next legislative session.

Although Oklahoma lawmakers have passed a significant amount of notable legislation aimed at improving Oklahoma’s criminal justice system, it is clear that more reforms are necessary to continue to safely reduce the state’s high population of nonviolent offenders and lower its incarceration rate.