More good news coming out of OKC. Anything to lower incarceration rates amongst non-violent offenders would be great.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma took a step toward reforming the way it deals with non-violent offenders on Tuesday, with the House of Representatives passing a corrections reform bill backed by both fiscal conservatives and social reformers.
House Bill 2131, which faces an unknown future in the Senate, would shorten the time “low-risk, non-violent” offenders spend behind bars in favor of expanded use of electronic monitoring, treatment programs and other forms of supervised release.
”With House Bill 2131, I believe we’ve laid the foundation for Oklahoma to consider how to do things differently,” House Speaker Kris Steele, author of the bill, said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.
“This is an opportunity … to show there is a better way, especially as it pertains to low-risk, non-violent offenders.”
The news conference was held under the auspices of Right on Crime, a national organization headed by former Nixon Administration Attorney General Ed Meese and supported in this state by the conservative Oklahoma Center of Public Affairs.
The reforms sought by Steele and Right on Crime, however, are also supported in large part by nonprofit organizations that work with offenders.
“This is one of the issues that defies party politics,” said Steele. “It makes sense fiscally, we know it will save the state money. It’s also a human resources issue. It makes a difference in the lives of offenders and their families.”
HB 2131 went through the House without discussion by a vote of 87-4, shortly after the body went into session Tuesday morning. It was followed by passage of SB 970, which authorizes the Department of Corrections to use $5.25 million generated by prison industries for operations.
Opponents said the measure would cripple prison industries and, in the end, be insufficient to avoid furloughs of corrections officers.
“It’s not that we don’t have the money, it’s that we don’t want to spend the money” to prevent furloughs, said Rep. Gus Blackwell, R-Goodwell.
The DOC had sought $9 million to get it through the end of the budget year that ends June 30.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20110315_16_0_OKLAHO252286
