Lawmakers are trying to set specific guidelines for state inmates who can apply for medical or compassionate parole.
Introduced by Sen. Jessica Garvin, R-Duncan, the measure has passed the Senate and is headed to the House for its consideration.
Garvin believes the bill will weed out the inmates who arbitrarily apply for medical parole while including inmates who have legitimate medical concerns that have been ignored.
“Right now, the conditions (for applying) are very vague. You have to be nearly dead before applying,” she said.
State prisons are at 107% capacity and many inmates in the system are over 65. A large portion of that group has medical conditions that prevent them from being able to take care of themselves on a daily basis.
“This puts them in danger, causes more work for already understaffed prisons and is a tremendous cost to the state,” said Garvin. “This is fiscally responsible legislation that creates commonsense guidelines for who can apply for compassionate relief parole. Once an individual qualifies to apply, they still must go through a board review to determine if they should be released on parole. This is a much-needed change for these frail individuals and our prison system.”
SB 320 defines medically frail as someone who has a medical condition that prevents them from performing two or more activities of daily living independently. It defines medically vulnerable as someone with one or more medical conditions that would make them more likely to contract an illness or disease while incarcerated that could lead to death or cause them to become medically frail. The measure specifies the medical conditions that place an individual in the medically vulnerable category.
Garvin doesn’t think the new measure would increase the number of inmates applying for compassionate parole. According to state Department of Corrections, only 12 people in Oklahoma’s prison system were granted medical parole in 2020.
But if the numbers do increase, the inmates must still go through a three-step process with a prison medical provider and DOC’s director and medical director all agreeing on the assessment. The DOC director would then request that a person be added to the medical parole docket before the Pardon and Parole Board.
“It (bill) narrows the pool of who can apply for medical parole” based on the qualifying illnesses and conditions, the solon said.
Those illnesses include disabling mental conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or similar degenerative brain disorder, HIV or AIDS, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease or asthma, diabetes, seizure disorders, inmates receiving life-sustaining care such as feeding tubes or colostomy bags, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or any other condition related to a weakened immune system or condition that requires or is expected to require specialty care or frequent hospitalizations.
At this time, inmates suffering from Multiple Sclerosis are not considered for medical parole, Garvin said.
The fiscal impact of SB 320 is contingent on several factors including age, type of medical condition(s), comorbidities and medication needs. A precise fiscal impact was not available.
However, Garvin said the bill could save the Department of Corrections huge amounts of money based on the medical care it must provide to many of its inmates.
“It’s extremely fiscally responsible,” she said. “It’s believed to offer a substantial savings.”
Garvin said she worked with law enforcement, district attorneys and judges along with DOC officials in drafting the bill. The measure passed the Senate 39-6.