In the 2006 session of the Oklahoma Legislature an Audit of Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) was authorized and funded in an amount up to one million dollars. MGT of America, Inc. contracted with the state to perform this comprehensive audit of ODOC. The following are some of the recommendations of MGT of America in their report released on December 31, 2006. (Click here for complete report - 6.56MB)

1. #1 RECOMMENDATION: “Removing governor from routine review of parole cases.”
2. Implementation of #1 recommendation would SAVE $40 million over ten years.
3. Implementation of #1 recommendation would reduce the growth of inmate population to zero from a growth of 2,500 inmates annually over the next 4 to 5 years.
4. Oklahoma’s spends 50% more than the average of its peer states on corrections.
5. Oklahoma is the only state in the union that the governor is required to sign     every parole, commutation and pardon.

The fastest growing segment of Oklahoma government is the Department of Corrections. Their budget is growing faster than Common Education, Higher Education, Mental Health and Substance Abuse and Roads.

The Pardon and Parole Board has the capability, to evaluate offenders in a scientific way that has been developed through nationwide research to determine those inmates who are of minimal risk to society.

Their Mission:

"The mission of the Pardon and Parole Board as a vital part of the criminal justice system is to determine the best possible decision, through a case-by-case investigative process and to protect the public while recommending the supervised released of adult felons. Although, in recent years the Board has been mandated to assist with alleviating prison overcrowding, it remains our goal to maintain a low revocation & recidivism rate for the State of Oklahoma."

 

Who makes up the Board:

The Pardon and Parole Board is a constitutional, five-member, part-time body charged with making clemency recommendations to the Governor concerning convicted adult felons. Members of the Board are appointed, three by the Governor, one by the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, and one by the presiding Judge of the Court Criminal Appeals. They hold office co-terminous with the Governor. Board members are removable only for cause in the manner provided by law for elected officers not liable for impeachment. The Board meets each month at one of the State penal institutions.

 

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Board reviews information prepared by the staff and makes recommendations for the granting of clemency on the various parole programs, commutations and pardons, as prescribed by law. Upon recommendation by the Board, the Governor has the authority to make the final decision on the granting of clemency, with the restrictions and stipulations recommended by the Board.

The Board employs a support staff of full-time employees who administer the daily operations of the agency. Reports and investigations for the use of the Board and the Governor in making their decisions are compiled by staff investigators on each of the candidates for the various parole programs. The reports for pardon are prepared by the Department of Corrections.

Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Center - 2008 and Beyond

The low rate of parole caused by the current system means that more felons are being returned to society with NO supervision. This is not the best result for improved public safety in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Academy of State Goals recommends removing the governor from the parole process in their report on Oklahoma Criminal Justice.

85% of those incarcerated will be released from prison.

Responsibly returning more prisoners to society completes families and helps provide bread winners to support the fabric of society

An excerpt from Digest Number 131 - OK CURE - January 2009

• In 1998, an estimated 56,500 Vietnam War-era veterans and 18,500 Persian Gulf War-era veterans were held in state and federal prisons.
• The number of veterans in prison or jail rose from 154,600 in 1985 to 225,700 in 1998, an increase of 46%.
• Since 1997, 19 states have amended felony disenfranchisement policies in an effort to reduce their restrictiveness and expand voter eligibility.
• Black men in their 30s are more likely to have been in prison than to have graduated from college.
• 5.3 million American citizens are denied the right to vote because of a felony conviction in their past. Nearly 4 million of these people are not in prison; they live, work, pay taxes and raise families in our communities, but remain disenfranchised for years, often for decades, and sometimes for life.
• All of the 5.3 million convicted felons who are barred from the polls in the November elections would be welcome to vote if they were citizens of dozens of other nation in Europe and the Americas.
• A 1997 study by the U.S. Department of Justice found that women were over represented among low level drug offenders who were non-violent, had minimal or no prior criminal history, and were not principal figures in criminal organizations or activities, but nevertheless received sentences similar to "high level" drug offenders under the mandatory sentencing policies.
• From 1986 to 1996, the number of women sentenced to state prison for drug crimes increased from 2,370 to 23,700. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington DC Prisoners in 1997)
• Over a five-year period, the incarceration rate of African American women increased by 828%.
• Since 1980 the number of women in prison has increased at nearly double the rate for men.
• The number of women in state and federal prisons has increased eight-fold from 12,300 in 1980 to 107,500 in 2005.
• Approximately 37% of women and 28% of men in prison had monthly incomes of less than $600 prior to their arrest.
• Nearly a quarter of women in state prisons have a history of mental illness.
• Individuals convicted of nonviolent offenses make up about 83 percent of Oklahoma's prison population.
• "We have ridiculous sentence lengths for crimes," said Oklahoma County Public Defender Bob Ravitz. "Instead of having moderate ranges that protect society and do what justice would require, we have ranges that allow everybody to get mad."
• An Oklahoma Sentencing Commission study shows more than 38 percent of black men are convicted of a felony, and the state's stiff penalties on drug and property crimes have lead to incarceration rates higher than the national average.

In Oklahoma

• There are more than 60,000 people in Oklahoma's correctional system, including about 28,000 on probation and nearly 5,000 on parole.
• While there are 644 white inmates per 100,000 population, there are 2,980 black inmates per 100,000 population, according to the Oklahoma Sentencing Commission.
• Accounting for 7 percent of the state's population, blacks made up nearly 30 percent of the prison population.
• About 12 percent of all black males in Oklahoma from ages 25 to 29 were in prison or jail in 2006.

In the United States

• The United States imprisons more people than any other industrialized country.
• The prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million, according to the Pew Research Center.
• One in every 99.1 adults is behind bars. For some groups, the numbers are higher.
• One in 36 adult Hispanic men is behind bars while one in 15 adult black men is behind bars.
• One in nine black men aged 20 to 34 are behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006.

In Oklahoma prisons, about 83 percent are there for nonviolent crimes — including about 10 percent on fraud and 10 percent on driving under the influence charges. Sentencing guidelines provide prosecutors with nearly unparalleled discretion — the range for a first-time possession of crack/cocaine is two to 10 years and first-time conviction for possession with intent to distribute is five years to life.

by Barbara Hoberock - World Capitol Bureau - November 1, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY — Participants in the Academy for State Goals' recent Town Hall Conference in Ardmore adopted a number of recommendations to improve the state's criminal justice system.

The recommendations included reforming the state's sentencing system.

"Reasonable, standardized sentencing should be used because people can receive vastly different sentences depending on their locality," a report from the academy states.

The report says judges should be appointed rather than elected, which would depoliticize the judicial process.

Successful programs that are alternatives to incarceration should be expanded, the report says.

Those include mental-heath and substance-abuse treatment programs and community-based sentencing programs.

The academy also recommended expanding the criteria for people trying to get into drug courts.

The recommendations including taking the governor out of the pardon-and- parole process for nonviolent offenders.

"It was also recommended that a professional, full-time parole board be created similar to other states, which would have the necessary effect of a more realistic approach to parole assessments and the shortening of the time for parole review, approval and release," the report states.

The academy also endorsed the Smart on Crime proposal being advanced by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

The program is aimed at providing resources to people who might or do enter the criminal justice system. It also has a reintegration component to help people who leave the system become successful.

Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Justin Jones, who participated in this week's conference, said the recommendations address crime and incarceration on a global basis.

On Dec. 5, the group's board will approve priority recommendations to be emphasized in 2009, said Julie Knutson, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals.

On Jan. 13, the academy will host an Oklahoma Summit to officially release its findings and prioritized recommendations.

The Oklahoma Academy for State Goals, a statewide membership group, focuses on public policy issues affecting the state's future.