Concerns at parole board
Fr iday is Steve Bickley's last official day as executive director of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. After saying he would do the job for 90 days, Bickley stayed 13 months and accomplished much. Now, however, his departure is clouded by controversy.
In his letter of resignation, Bickley told the board he had been threatened for doing his job and that board members were trying to create conflict between him and his staff.
“I cannot tolerate my current work environment,” the letter said. “Policy disagreements have turned into personal attacks rather than public discussion.”
The five-member board selected Bickley in July 2019, with a unanimous vote. He had been vice president of marketing, finance and administration for the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., part of a resume that included two decades of national and international executive leadership experience.
The Tulsa World reports that board member Allen McCall, a retired judge, emailed Bickley and accused him of injecting antideath penalty options on the board. “Shame on you for the underhanded and deceitful way you have used your position to impose your personal beliefs on your staff and Board,” the email said.
McCall said in his email he would move to have Bickley removed, and asked to appear before the state's multicounty grand jury to present evidence of several violations of law by Bickley and others, the World reported.
Bickley helped the parole board handle an influx of commutation applications and implement legislation regarding administrative parole and a law that made retroactive a state question making certain drug and property crimes misdemeanors instead of felonies.
In May 2019, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill directing the parole board to establish an accelerated, single-state commutation docket for people convicted of crimes that had been reclassified from felonies to misdemeanors. After the bill became effective in November, the board recommended commutation for 527 nonviolent offenders who qualified for the single-stage docket. Stitt granted commutation to most of those, clearing the way for the release of more than 450 inmates in what was hailed as the nation's largest single-day commutation ever.
Support for Bickley is evident among some board members. One is Adam Luck, who noted that Bickley managed a large increase in cases and ensured the board kept working during the pandemic. “I understand his reasons for resigning and also find it hard to imagine working in the environment created by this situation,” Luck said on social media.
The board's chairman, Robert Gilliland, who said after Bickley's appointment that the board “couldn't have found a better choice,” said that for the most part, Bickley “had unwavering support of a majority of board members.”
It is clear, however, that Bickley felt the environment had become toxic. The board will need to address that before it looks for a new executive director.