Criminal Justice Bills to Watch in This Year’s LegislatureOklahoma lawmakers filed dozens of criminal justice bills ahead of the Jan. 16 deadline, including ambitious proposals to establish a full-time Pardon and Parole Board and institute a death penalty moratorium. The state’s prison population has stayed relatively flat over the past three years, with most reforms focusing on improving reentry services and making it easier for formerly incarcerated to secure employment. Last year lawmakers passed a sweeping felony classification bill and measure allowing victims of domestic violence to present evidence of abuse as a mitigating factor. The 2025 legislative session begins on Feb. 3 at noon. Bills must advance out of committee in their chamber of origin by March 6. Here are five criminal justice bills to watch in the coming weeks and months: Pausing the Death Penalty Bill Number: Senate Bill 601Author: Dave Rader, R-TulsaRader’s bill pauses all pending executions, blocks the state from seeking new execution dates and creates a task force to study Oklahoma’s execution practices. The five-member Death Penalty Task Force would issue its first report in November 2026, with annual follow-up reports required through 2029. The governor, House Speaker, Senate Pro Tem and legislative minority leaders would each appoint one member. Oklahoma carried out four executions by lethal injection last year, all without significant complications or issues. In 2022, the state withstood a federal lawsuit alleging its execution practices constituted cruel and unusual punishment. However, a bipartisan group of lawmakers maintains there aren’t sufficient checks and balances to ensure an innocent person isn’t executed. Former Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, proposed similar legislation last year. The measure passed the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee but stalled on the House floor. Oklahoma is scheduled to put Wendell Grissom to death by lethal injection on March 20. No other execution dates have been set. Making the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board Full-TimeBill Number: House Bill 1968Author: Danny Williams, R-SeminoleThis bill transitions Pardon and Parole Board members from part-time to full-time state employees and raises their annual salary from $22,800 to $85,00 annually. The measure also authorizes the board to employ two alternative board members at a salary of $75,000.Criminal justice reform advocates have pushed for the change, arguing that part-time members are time-constrained in reviewing cases and therefore predisposed to reject parole for certain offenders. Several neighboring states, including Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas, employ full-time parole board members. Alternate members could prevent delays when a sitting member resigns or recuses themselves from a hearing. The Parole Board’s December 2024 regular meeting was postponed after two members resigned within weeks. Some death row clemency hearings, including that of death row prisoner Richard Glossip, have moved forward with less than five members due to board members recusing themselves. Williams hosted an interim study on criminal sentencing last October where several parole board reforms were weighed. “Because we do have so many people incarcerated and so many people coming before the board regularly, it’s difficult for them to actually fully consider cases before them,” Oklahoma Appleseed Executive Director Colleen McCarty said at the hearing. Reviving the Prison Rodeo Bill Numbers: Senate Bill 137 Authors: Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain This proposal creates a revolving fund of state appropriations the Department of Corrections may utilize to revive the prison rodeo at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The event shuttered in 2009 after attendance declined and the facility maintenance lagged. Last year the agency withdrew an $8 million request to restart the prison rodeo following backlash from some lawmakers and prisoner advocates. Hamilton’s bill calls for $8.3 million to be deposited into the account by July. Proponents of reviving the rodeo say it’s an effective rehabilitation tool and an annual boon to McAlester’s local economy. Critics say the agency should focus on more pressing matters, like boosting staffing and reducing violence. Rep. Jim Grego, R-Wilburton, is sponsoring a similar bill in the House. Adding Crimes to 85% List Bill Number: House Bill 1591Author: Rep. John George, R-NewallaThis bill adds domestic abuse by strangulation, domestic assault and battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer to the state’s 85% crimes list. As recently as 2020, domestic abuse by strangulation was not on the state’s violent crime list, allowing offenders to accumulate credits and secure release more quickly. George’s bill would go a step further, requiring those offenders to serve at least 85% of their court-mandated sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Violent offenders must receive a favorable recommendation from the Pardon and Parole Board and the governor to be paroled. Oklahoma’s Legislature has increased penalties for some domestic violence crimes in recent years, but has been hesitant to add to the 85% crimes list, fearing the change might cause the state’s prison population to balloon. Requiring Mugshot RemovalBill Number: Senate Bill 379Author: Jo Anna Dossett, D-Tulsa For-profit tabloids and webpages that exclusively publish mugshots would be forbidden from requiring payment to remove an image if this bill becomes law. Senate Bill 379 also stipulates that the business may not require payment to remove the image. Those who violate the provisions of the bill could face possible civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day. “Clearly this is a predatory practice,” Dossett said after an interim study on the topic in September 2023. “But we must proceed thoughtfully and cautiously, so as not to cause any unintended consequences impacting public safety or freedom of the press.”Keaton Ross covers democracy and criminal justice for Oklahoma Watch. Contact him at (405) 831-9753 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @_KeatonRoss. MORE FROM keaton ross Oklahoma Maintains Nation’s Fourth-Highest Imprisonment Rate January 13, 2025January 15, 2025 As Oklahoma Executions Continue, New Death Sentences Grow Rare December 27, 2024December 27, 2024 Parole Rate on the Rise December 11, 2024December 11, 2024 The post Criminal Justice Bills to Watch in This Year’s Legislature appeared first on Oklahoma Watch.