COMMISSION CONSIDERS CHANGE OF SENTENCING OKLAHOMA CITY

Reduced sentences for drug possession and better substance abuse programs
are among recommendations from a commission that is trying to find ways to
save money by reducing Oklahoma's skyrocketing prison population. "Because
we've always done things a certain way doesn't mean we can't do it a better
way or a more efficient way," Sen. Dick Wilkerson, a member of the Oklahoma
Sentencing Commission, said Thursday. The Atwood Democrat is a former
deputy director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

"We want justice as cheaply as we can get it," Wilkerson said.

The commission's co-chairman, Rep. Terry Ingmire, R-Stillwater, said
cost-cutting reforms can not jeopardize public safety.

"Punishment has to be there somewhere or the system breaks down," said
First Deputy Attorney General Tom Gruber.

The 33 recommendations released Thursday mirror proposals in
truth-in-sentencing legislation that was passed in 1997 and repealed in
1999. The law, which stiffened penalties for violent criminals while easing
penalties for others, was opposed by many state prosecutors.

Statistics produced by the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center
indicate the state's rate of incarceration is the nation's fourth highest
and that drug and alcohol offenses are the leading causes of prison
sentences, accounting for 44 percent of all receptions in 2001.

Oklahoma's prison population has risen 108 percent in the last 14 years and
stood at 22,849 on Thursday. The agency took in a total of 8,200 new
inmates in the 2002 fiscal year.

The Department of Corrections' budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30
stands at $372 million and the agency needs another $15 million to pay all
expenses.

The commission agreed to study the recommendations as the state prepares
for another round of budget cuts due to a revenue shortfall. Lawmakers will
have $592 million less to appropriate in the fiscal year that begins July 1
than they did in 2002.