Consultants say that Oklahoma should get more from its criminal justice system | Tulsa World

Consultants say that Oklahoma should get more from its criminal justice system | Tulsa World

"MUSKOGEE - Oklahoma's criminal justice system is expensive and not particularly effective, a team of consultants from the nonprofit Council of State Governments' Justice Center said Tuesday.

With House Speaker Kris Steele moderating comments from an audience of about 30, the consultants' presented their preliminary findings for the third time in two days, having previously appeared in Lawton and Enid.

The team is part of the council's Justice Reinvestment program, which is described as a "data-driven approach to reduce corrections spending and reinvest savings in strategies that can decrease crime and strengthen neighborhoods."

The program is credited with helping Texas, Kansas and about a dozen other states redesign their corrections systems.

"Oklahoma has increased spending for corrections by 41 percent while violent crime remains virtually unchanged," Steele said during preliminary remarks. "At least 36 other states have seen decreases in violent crime during that same period."

Project Director Marshall Clement said he and his colleagues had identified three major areas of concern: The state has unchanged or rising crime rates that run contrary to national trends; a high percentage of Oklahoma inmates are released without supervision; and Oklahoma's prison population is increasing at an unsustainable rate.

Clement said Oklahoma's murder rate has remained almost unchanged over the past decade while the national rate has declined 13 percent.

Robbery, he said, has gone up 15 percent in the state while declining 18 percent nationally during the same period.

Clement said the increases may be related to declines in the number of police per capita in the state, especially in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. He noted that Norman had increased its police force by 18 percent relative to its population and had seen a corresponding 48 percent drop in violent crime.

About half of Oklahoma inmates are released from prison without any required supervision, Clement said. State Corrections Director Justin Jones, who was among those in attendance, said that's because so many serve their full sentences before being released.

Later, during questions and remarks from the audience, it was mentioned that many inmates prefer to stay in jail rather than be released under supervision - in part because of the costs associated with supervised release.

According to corrections officials and attorney Mark Bonney, inmates on supervised release have to pay at least $100 to $150 for such things as monitoring devices and behavioral treatment. Sex offenders must take polygraph exams every six months at a cost of about $250 each time.

"I've had people I've sentenced tell me they'd rather serve a full sentence than get out early with supervision," said Muskogee County Special Judge Robin Adair. "That indicates to me the importance of supervision."

Clement said Oklahoma will need an additional 3,000 prison beds in the next few years just to accommodate the population increase caused by the state's 85 percent rule - a state law requiring many offenders to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

Jones said the effect of the 85 percent rule has been compounded by a trend toward longer sentences."

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