By Shaun Hittle
Oklahoma Watch
OKLAHOMA CITY — Several years ago, legislators in both Oklahoma and North Carolina began taking steps to address rising incarceration rates.
The number of incarcerated offenders in Oklahoma had increased by a few thousand inmates in the past decade, giving the state one of the highest rates of imprisonment in the nation. The prison population was growing at a similar pace in North Carolina, and officials were expecting an additional 10 percent increase by 2020.
Both states analyzed criminal justice data that highlighted systematic reasons, such as tougher sentencing laws, that explained why more people were being locked up. With help from the Council on State Governments in crafting legislation, each state passed a series of reforms, known as Justice Reinvestment Initiatives, designed to cut down on rising incarceration. North Carolina approved its law in 2011, Oklahoma in 2012.
The results: Oklahoma’s prison population continued to rise, climbing by about 800 inmates to nearly 27,000. The corrections system remains overcrowded and has been forced to contract with private prisons to house more inmates. State officials say more funds are needed to relieve overcrowding.
Full story: Prison reform sputters in Oklahoma