OKLAHOMA CRIMINALS SERVE LONGER TERMS, STUDY FINDS

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Criminals in Oklahoma serve far more time than those
convicted of the same crimes almost anyplace else, a study shows.

Drug offenders and those convicted of serious crimes routinely serve more
than twice the average U.S. sentence for those same crimes.

Drug traffickers can expect to serve time in Oklahoma prisons that is more
than double the national average -- 5.7 years, compared with 2.1 years.

The statistics compiled by the Oklahoma Senate fiscal staff show that those
convicted of drug possession here serve an average of 220 percent of the
nation al average -- 3 years to 1.3 years.

The average time served in Oklahoma for robbery is 10.5 years, compared
with the national average of 4.5 years. And those convicted of aggravated
assault serve an average of 6.2 years, nearly double the 3.2 years that is
the U.S. average.

Tough sentences and a conservative Pardon and Parole Board are two of the
reasons Oklahoma always is on the verge of a prison overcrowding crisis and
the Corrections Department budget has skyrocketed to new heights.

But some think that isn't all bad.

"Maybe that's the reason crime rates have gone down," said one of the
district attorneys who came to the Capitol this week to plead for a $7
million in crease in the District Attorneys Council's $31 million budget.

Others believe that the sharp drop in crime in recent years is due more to
a good economy and an aging population than lock-'em-up sentencing policies.

Statistics show that serious crimes such as murder, rape and robbery
declined to 4,609 per 100,000 population in 1999, the latest year for which
figures are available, after peaking at 6,018 per 100,000 in 1987.

Another encouraging statistic gleaned from the records of the Oklahoma
State Bureau of Investigation shows a sharp decline in violent juvenile
crime. Since peaking at 1,510 in 1995, juvenile arrests for violent crime
have dropped steadily to 998 in 1999 -- a 40 percent decrease.

However, "it appears drug arrests may be driving incarcerations," Senate
staffer K.C. Moon told lawmakers.

Drug arrests dropped to 7,568 in 1991 but increased sharply each year after
that, peaking at 20,637 in 1999.

The Criminal Justice Resource Center reports drug and alcohol violations
accounted for 42 percent of the 17,338 total convictions in Oklahoma in 2000.

While crime overall has dropped, the prison population has doubled in the
past decade from 11,274 in 1990 to 22,614 in 2000. The prison population is
projected to hit 26,404 by 2009.