criminal justice reform

In this episode of Capitol Insider, KGOU's Dick Pryor and eCapitol's Shawn Ashley discuss what the media missed when over 500 people were released last week from Oklahoma prisons, signs of a slowing economy and more. 

In 2016, Oklahoma voters passed two state questions intended to reduce the state’s prison population. Every year since, lawmakers have introduced bills designed to help decrease the number of people serving time.

Multiple polls show the majority of Oklahoma voters support criminal justice reforms.

Survey data commissioned by Oklahoma Public Radio stations for the Oklahoma Engaged Project also suggest a majority of voters believe the state’s sentencing laws need to be reworked.

Oklahoma is now the number one incarcerator in the country, but only one bill targeting prison population control reached the governor’s desk this session.

Lawmakers adjourned the 2019 legislative session Thursday. StateImpact reporters followed a number of issues this year. They sit down to talk about the bills that made it to the end of the session and those that are in limbo.

Representative Kevin Wallace suggested as little as 1 percent of the state budget remains to be negotiated as lawmakers eye the end of the 2018 legislative session on May 25. That’s according to eCapitol’s Shawn Ashley.

Ashley says state agencies will most likely see flat budgets. State revenue has increased due to economic growth and revenue generating measures from previous sessions, giving lawmakers more money to appropriate. And lawmakers have already dealt with many of the biggest budget items, like public education.

Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday announced a compromise between district attorneys and Republican lawmakers on six bills they say will reduce Oklahoma’s prison population while maintaining public safety.

One criminal justice reform advocacy group is criticizing the timing of the announcement because the bills’ language still hasn’t been made public.