OKLAHOMA CITY — Seven years ago Oklahoma voters approved two state questions to make major changes in the state’s criminal justice system.
State Questions 780 and 781 were designed to reclassify many drug offenses, lower the state’s incarceration rate and shift the money saved by the changes to counties for mental health and drug treatment programs.
The changes have been less than successful.
Though many drug-related offenses have been reclassified and fewer today are sent to prison for nonviolent drug crimes, little else had been done.
Last week Gov. Kevin Stitt announced the creation of the MODERN (Modernized Operations through Data and Evidence-based Restoration Now) Justice Task Force, a group charged with examining the state’s justice system and identifying “evidence-based strategies to reduce crime and recidivism, enhance public safety and increase opportunities for all Oklahomans.”
The governor touted the program as a way to make the justice system safer, smarter and more efficient.
“With all three branches of government working together, we’re demonstrating to all four million Oklahomans the state’s commitment to strengthening public safety while ensuring our justice system works fairly and efficiently,” the governor said in a media statement.
The task force drew praise from one state lawmaker – Rep. Meloyde Blanchett, a Tulsa Democrat who has pushed the issue for two years through legislation and interim studies.
Blanchett said she was pleased the governor’s task force would review the justice system and collect much-needed data.
“Without proper data, we are just guessing, which is not the best way to obtain targeted results, particularly around criminal justice policy because so much of it is emotion driven,” she said.
Blanchett said human-centered, data-driven decision-making and a commitment to the idea of outcome-focused use of taxpayer dollars was necessary to fix the state’s criminal justice system. She said the state has few mechanisms to learn about and understand the challenges local jails are facing.
This is exacerbated by the fact that the state does not currently collect aggregated data pertaining to county jails, making it difficult for state leaders to allocate the correct funding and resources at the local level, which is the core of our justice system, she said.
“We know rural towns and big cities alike are struggling with our criminal justice system. We are hearing from law enforcement officers, behavioral health providers and community members about the strain on the system and their local communities,” Blancett said.
House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson echoed Blancett.
“My hope is the task force will yield a deep, never-before-conducted analysis of jail data across the state, allowing decisionmakers to use the more accurate information available to make decisions,” Munson said.
Stitt said the task force would examine data from jails across the state and evaluate programs used by other states. He said the task force would seek information from law enforcement officials, county leaders, behavioral health service providers, victims and survivors of crime and those who were previously behind bars.
The task force will include:
• The Secretary of Public Safety or designee.
• The Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives or designee.
• The President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate or designee.
• A victim advocate.
• The Commissioner for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services or designee.
• A District Attorney for a county or district with a population of 500,000 or less, selected by the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
• The Administrative Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts or designee.
• A sheriff of a county with a population 500,000 or more to be selected by the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate.
• A public defender selected by the Administrative Director of the Courts.
• A retired district judge, as selected by the Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
• Someone with demonstrated knowledge of successful diversion programs, with a specific emphasis on programs in rural areas, to be selected by the Secretary of Public Safety.
Blancett said there is an urgent need to address the criminal justice and mass incarceration issues faced by local communities.
“I always lead with data that is agnostic, meaning it’s not skewed toward a predetermined outcome. Better data leads to better policymaking which leads to more informed legislation,” she said.