State’s criminal justice reform measures face uncertain future

Several bills designed to significantly reduce Oklahoma’s prison population have been sent to a Legislative conference committee, where they could be amended before reaching a final vote.

The measures were introduced last year but denied a hearing in the final days of session. Legislative rules allow them to be reconsidered.

If a majority of conference committee members accept the changes, the bills could be sent directly to the House and Senate floors for a final vote any time between now and the end of session in May.

Criminal justice reform advocates hope the bills won’t be watered down from their latest versions.

“The bills are good as-is. Is any bill perfect? Of course not,” said Andrew Speno, state director for Right on Crime. “However, these are critical to reducing the prison population and that has to be top priority, as long as we can do it without compromising public safety.”

Oklahoma’s prison system is over capacity. It’s been a strain on the Department of Corrections that led to a request for an extra $1 billion this year and the warning that without changes, the department will need two

new prisons to accommodate an expected rise in the number of people behind bars.

The bills now in a conference committee include the following:

• Senate Bill 649, which sought to limit how much time could be tacked on to a nonviolent offender’s sentence due to prior convictions for nonviolent crimes.

• Senate Bill 689, which would allow judges and prosecutors more options in diverting people from prison to treatment and supervision programs. The bill also sought to decrease financial barriers for convicted individuals seeking to re-enter society and expand the use of graduated sanctions and incentives.

• Senate Bill 650, which sought to make it easier for offenders to obtain expungements in order to remove one of the barriers that inhibits people with prison records from obtaining jobs after they are released.

• Senate Bill 786, which sought to reduce prison sentences for low-value property crimes.

• House Bill 2286, which authorizes an administrative parole process for geriatric prisoners.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma criticized sending the bills into conference.

“It’s important to guard against any criminal justice bill being watered down in conference committee,” said Executive Director Ryan Kiesel. “We know that there is a strong effort to defeat any real reforms from hitting the governor’s desk, while giving the appearance that the Legislature has moved the needle on this issue. The conference committee is the point in the process where these bills are the most vulnerable.”

Kevin Buchanan, president of the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council, said the bills don’t do enough. His group has asked for changes to some bills and in one case, for Senate Bill 649, for the measure to be postponed until next year.

“Theover-archingproblem with criminal justice reform is that it seems the only part of reform we’re talking about is eliminating crimes, or reducing the consequences of a number of crimes,” Buchanan said. “The part we’re not talking about at all is the rehabilitation and treatement part of the criminal reform movement.”

State Rep. Terry O’Donnell is author or coauthor on some of those bills and said nothing is set in stone. A conference committee can make small edits or completely modify legislation before sending it to the floor.

“We want the law to be modified as such that we have a significant impact in our incarceration rate, and even our growth rate,” O’Donnell said.

Few eligible inmates are paroled. The “minuscule” number of about 6 percent of eligible inmates, he said, include prisoners who may decide that they’d rather serve their full term behind bars rather than get out early and be subject to state supervision.

“We need to look at that and make some improvements and figure out a smarter way for the parole process to take place so those people are not only incentivized to go through the process or have a fair chance of obtaining parole,” said O’Donnell.