BACKGROUND
MEMBERS OF THE OKLAHOMA COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADVISORY COUNCIL Clay Bennett, Chair, OKC Thunder Tony Tyler, Vice Chair, Tyler Media MEMBERS: Judge Don Andrews, Presiding Judge of the Oklahoma County District Court Sue Ann Arnall, Arnall Family Foundation Kevin Calvey, Commissioner Board of Oklahoma County Commissioners Craig Freeman, City Manager of Oklahoma City Wade Gourley, Chief of Police of Oklahoma City Judge Philippa James, Presiding Judge of Oklahoma City Municipal Court Tommie Johnson III, Sheriff of Oklahoma County Tim Lyon, City Manager of Midwest City Rev. Theodis Manning, Senior Pastor, Divine Wisdom Worship Center David Prater, District Attorney of Oklahoma County Robert Ravitz, Oklahoma County Public Defender Scot Rigby, City Manager of Edmond Carrie Slatton-Hodges, Commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Dan Straughan, Executive Director, The Homeless Alliance LaShawn Thompson, Court Administrator of Oklahoma City Rick Warren, Court Clerk of Oklahoma County Roy Williams, President & CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Amy K. Simpson, Secretary, City Clerk for Oklahoma City Cole Marshall, General Counsel, McAfee & Taft
In response to the growing concerns about chronic overcrowding in Oklahoma County’s jail facility, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber announced the creation of a special task force to evaluate Oklahoma County’s criminal justice system in December 2015. With collaboration and input from a diverse group of community members, the Chamber contracted with the Vera Institute of Justice to complete an initial analysis and make recommendations for reform of the Oklahoma County criminal justice system. Vera released their recommendations in December 2016. As a central recommendation of the report, an interlocal agreement between Oklahoma County, the City of Oklahoma City, the City of Edmond, and the City of Midwest City created the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council (CJAC) in November 2017. The Advisory Council continued to evolve with the hiring of a full-time executive director in February 2018 to provide support to the CJAC’s efforts. The creation of this permanent oversight body is key to implementing the proposed criminal justice reforms which can be summarized in these six key recommendations: Oklahoma City Chamber announced in December 2015 the creation of a special task force to evaluate Oklahoma County’s criminal justice system. With collaboration and input
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Create oversight and accountability mechanisms for the local justice system.
2.
Reduce jail admissions for municipal violations and low- level misdemeanors.
3.
Create a fair and efficient pretrial release process that safely reduces unnecessary pretrial incarceration.
4.
Identify and address district court case processing delays that increase jail admissions and length of stay.
5.
Expand meaningful diversion program options, focusing on individuals with mental illness and substance abuse disorders.
6.
Reduce the impact of justice system fines and fees as a driver of jail growth and recidivism.
Although each of the six recommendations carry numerous challenges and barriers to improvement, the good news is that, because of the cooperative effort of the Advisory Council’s stakeholders, progress continues to be made on each of the six recommendations.
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