AN EARLY REVIEW OF EARLY RELEASE

Stocker: Few Area Inmates Make The List.

District Attorney Cathy Stocker isn't too concerned about talk the state of
Oklahoma may release more than 1,000 prison inmates in an effort to help
ease the budget crisis facing the state Department of Corrections.

That's because only 27 of the inmates on the list are from her five-county
district.

"These are offenders we would expect to be paroled quickly," Stocker said.

All of the inmates on the list are non-violent offenders with less than
five years re-maining on their prison terms.

Stocker said she and her staff only objected to the potential early release
of one of the local inmates on the list.

Garfield County inmate Page Murdock is serving time for selling
methamphetamine to a police informant and maintaining a place for
manufacturing methamphetamine.

Stocker said Murdock - who was sentenced to five years in prison last
summer - hasn't served enough time, so she is not an appropriate candidate
for early release.

The Par-don and Pa-role Board is not expected to review Gov. Frank
Keat-ing's request to consider re-leasing the inmates until next month.

Still, Stock-er said she was pleased to have an opportunity to review the
list before the parole board does.

The original list provided by DOC Director Ron Ward contains more than
2,400 entries, but some inmates are listed multiple times because they are
serving time for several offenses.

Stocker said DOC assembled the list after Keating and state lawmakers asked
for a review of the prison population to see which inmates qualified for
early release without jeopardizing public safety.

She said she thinks officials used good criteria in assembling the list.

Inmates with prior convictions for violent offenses or misconduct problems
since they have been incarcerated were not eligible for the list.

Stocker said she was pleased with the ratio of inmates from her district
once the final list was compiled.

The 27 inmates from her district include 11 from Garfield County, 10 from
Canadian County, four from Kingfisher County and two from Blaine County.
There were none from Grant County.

Those inmates are serving time for a variety of offenses, including drunk
driving, forgery, delivery of drugs, second-degree burglary, embezzlement,
shoplifting and concealing stolen property.

Stocker said she and her staff reviewed each inmate's case and only came up
with one objections.

She said she isn't surprised when inmates incarcerated on such offenses are
recommended for parole, as they typically are on the regular monthly dockets.

Stocker said she understands the request to consider releasing more inmates
before they complete their sentences as a way to ease the state's "drastic"
budget problems.

DOC is facing a $25.5 million budget deficit.