DOC hosts public safety, criminal justice reform

(OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.) The Oklahoma Department of Corrections, in partnership with the Crime and Justice Institute, hosted a forum on the state of public safety and presented the need for continued criminal justice reform in Oklahoma this past week. Wednesday’s forum was attended by about 150 local, state and national leaders discussing Oklahoma’s high incarceration rates and what the state needs to do next to reduce the number of Oklahomans sent to prison for low-level offenses. “Public safety is of paramount concern to all Oklahomans, but we also know we can’t continue to grow the state’s prison population,” said ODOC Director Joe M. Allbaugh. “Oklahomans have sent a loud message they want to see reform, and the Department of Corrections has been more than ready to be part of the solution. I am excited to work with the new administration on options that make sense for our state.” The forum brought together statewide elected officials, business and community leaders and criminal justice advocates to discuss what reform and public safety should look like in Oklahoma over the next decade. Following voter approval of State Question 780 and 781 in 2016 and legislative reforms passed in 2018, the state is poised to reduce the number of incarcerated individuals, but more must be done to have a significant impact. “We know Oklahoma’s highest-in-the-nation incarceration rate impacts economic development and job growth in our state,” said Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell. “I look forward to working with Governor Stitt to help continue to move the needle on criminal justice reform.” Oklahoma’s business community has also played a pivotal role in advancing criminal justice policy through local efforts to employ justice-involved individuals, who often find meaningful employment next to impossible after being released from prison. “Our state’s criminal justice system is in desperate need of reform,” said Gene Rainbolt, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of BancFirst and Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform Board Member. “Right now, we have men and women sitting behind bars who could be productive, tax-paying members of society. Over-incarceration has done nothing to make Oklahoma safer and has hurt our state’s families and economy by keeping able-bodied employees out of the workforce.” Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter also attended and spoke at the forum to push for policy changes and reform. “As the head law enforcement official in the state, I am responsible for and committed to keeping public safety as my top priority,” Hunter said. “I am confident we can work together to protect our citizens while also reforming our criminal justice system.” Heading into the 2019 legislative session, there are multiple bills filed to reform Oklahoma’s criminal justice system. Accordingly, state Board of Corrections member Adam Luck presented policy options at Wednesday’s forum that could reduce the state’s prison population. Among those was a series of recommendations, a “conversation starter,” for getting Oklahoma to the national average incarceration rate over a 10-year period. These include changing how the state treats probation and parole revocations, lowering ranges for habitual offender enhancements and reducing 85 percent time-served requirements to 60 percent. “We know we have to significantly reduce our prison population over the next decade, but we have to be smart about how we do it,” Allbaugh said. “Today’s forum was an opportunity to bring legislators and other stakeholders into the same room to further the criminal justice reform discussion.”