Sheriffs gear up for 2018 legislative fights

The state’s sheriffs are gearing up for a fight when the Oklahoma Legislature reconvenes early next year.

During a meeting of the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association on Thursday, members were told to expect a protracted battle over criminal justice reforms they largely oppose.

“This is going to be probably one of the biggest defensive years that this association has ever had,” said Ray McNair, the group’s executive director. “We are going to have to stop a lot of legislation. There will be attempts on cutting fines, fees and costs. There will also be changes with regard to felonies and misdemeanors.”

Sheriffs and their conservative supporters believe lower sentences for drug possession and other minor crimes will embolden criminals and stretch county correction budgets. Oklahoma voters approved two state questions in November that reclassified possession as a misdemeanor. Lawmakers followed that effort with related legislation earlier this year, some of which passed and some of which stalled.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is an issue, this is a fight, that is not going away,” Rep. Scott Biggs, a Chickasha Republican and leading opponent of sentencing reform, told sheriffs Thursday. “So, what do we do from here? We ask you to get involved.”

He urged sheriffs to become politically active, calling them the most popular elected officials in their respective counties.

Only they can explain firsthand the negative ramifications of sentencing reform, he told them.

“That’s what it’s going to take to defeat these bills,” Biggs said.

Biggs and Rep. Tim Downing, R-Purcell, portrayed sentencing reform proponents as a powerful coalition of shadowy groups that have spent large sums of money to dupe well-meaning Oklahomans into harming law enforcement efforts and aiding criminals.

“I want you to be encouraged that the people you see supporting a lot of these reforms aren’t necessarily against law enforcement,” Downing told sheriffs. “They, like the public in many cases, have been deceived and lied to about what is hidden in the bills, what is hidden in ballot questions.”

Arguing the other side

Kris Steele, a Republican and former Oklahoma Speaker of the House, led the sentencing reform efforts as chairman of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform. In a statement Thursday, he said a majority of the conservative state’s voters support reform.

“Oklahoma is bleeding teachers and cutting services to the mentally ill while wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on mass incarceration of nonviolent offenders,” Steele said. “Oklahomans are smarter than this, demand better than this and deserve more than this.

“Instead of wasting money on failed policies that don’t make us safer, Oklahoma voters have clearly stated they favor utilizing taxpayer funds more efficiently to actually help Oklahomans and increase public safety,” he added.

The sheriffs’ call for advocacy in 2018 makes heated criminal justice discussions at the Capitol likely next year.

If the sheriffs’ association has its way, uniformed law enforcement officials will be in the gallery or in front of a microphone for those talks.

John Whetsel, the former sheriff of Oklahoma County, said everyone in law enforcement should “be prepared to help the legislators” in 2018, predicting “a huge stampede” of criminal justice legislation.

“You have no idea the importance of being out at that Capitol,” McNair said. “We can’t have the same 10 or 11 people show up at the Capitol. What we do out at the Capitol affects all 77 sheriffs.”

“Come out there when we’re out there,” he urged, “and help us fight some of this legislation.”