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Oklahoma
State Senate
Communications Division
State Capitol
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
For Immediate Release: March 16, 2011
Sen. Josh Brecheen
Bill to remove Governor from parole process for nonviolent offenses
heads to House
The Senate unanimously approved a measure Wednesday to send to
a vote of the people a constitutional amendment to remove the Governor
from the parole process for nonviolent offenders. Sen. Josh
Brecheen, author of Senate Joint Resolution 25, said the measure
would help speed up the parole process as well as save the state
millions.
“Oklahoma is the only state in the nation where the Governor
has to personally review and approve every parole. The 2007 MGT
audit, paid for by the Legislature, suggested removing the Governor
from this process. The study found that removing the Governor from
the parole process for nonviolent offenders could save the state
over $40 million in ten years,” said Brecheen, R-Coalgate.
“Not only would it save the state time and money, it’ll
also help get these individuals back into society quicker so they
can begin supporting their families and contributing to the state’s
economy.”
SJR 25 would amend the state Constitution to give the Pardon and
Parole Board the power to review and decide parole requests for
nonviolent offenders. Violent crimes would still be reviewed by
the Governor.
According to the state Department of Corrections, incarceration
of an inmate cost on average $16,000 annually or $47 a day. The
MGT audit found that, on average, there is a 100 day delay in the
Governor’s review of paroles. That delay in parole reviews
costs the state an average of $4,700 per inmate.
“Had the Governor not had to personally review every nonviolent
offender’s case, the parole process could have been expedited
and those individuals could have been paroled well before the 100
day average review period, saving the state time and money,”
said Brecheen. “We have a parole board that is tasked with
reviewing these cases and we need to let them do their job, and
let the Governor focus on the state’s budget.”
According to DOC, in fiscal year 2008, the Governor approved 1,170
parole requests which may have cost the state up to $5.5 million
given the average 100 day delay in review of those cases. The next
year, 739 cases were approved for an estimated cost to the state
of $3.5 million. Then in FY’10, the Governor approved 463
parole requests costing the state as much as $2 million.
That same year, the Governor denied 119 paroles of nonviolent offenders,
previously recommended for parole by the Board, costing the state
approximately $1.9 million in continued annual incarceration expenses
(based on DOC’s average incarceration expense per inmate currently
costing $16,000 annually).
For more information contact:
Sen. Brecheen: (405) 521-5586
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