Instead of 22,000 inmates, we could have 12,000, saving $200M a year | Justice advocate

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt's Modern Justice Taskforce has told us what we already know — that our jails are filled with people suffering from addiction, or mental illness, or both. More than half have not been convicted of a crime.

They are waiting for their day in court, and they are too poor to pay, or otherwise incapable of posting bond. The average jail stay is three weeks in Oklahoma, compared to a national average of 12 days.

Our jails are neither designed, nor staffed, to treat the conditions of those who are confined there, as we are reminded in the task force report issued in December.

At no time was this more evident than in the case of Norman businesswoman Shannon Hanchett, who ran her bakery out of a tiny cottage on Main Street.

More: Guest: Oklahoma Department of Corrections' primary goal should be rehabilitation

Known locally for her cookies, her fiery personality and her advocacy, ironically, for those suffering from mental illness, the death of Norman's beloved Cookie Queen in a local jail brought this matter to the forefront.

Like many, I’ve fallen for the easy fallacy that people in jail got there for a reason.

When Hanchett defied a police officer’s command to stop dialing 911, he somehow failed to see a middle-age woman having a mental health crisis. Instead, he identified a public-safety risk and used a Taser on her before taking her to the Cleveland County jail, where she died after 12 days.

Her death occurred one day before she was scheduled for a psychiatric screening.

Hanchett’s loss was a wake-up call for those of us who thought our jails were safe. They are not.

Oklahoma jails are plagued by overworked, undertrained staff who lack the knowledge and the resources to provide for the individuals in their charge.

These problems are fixable, as the task force reports, but they won’t fix themselves. And solutions cost money — money that is not in the state budget now.

But the money can be found. It’s right in front of us. Oklahoma locks up too many people. We rank fourth in the nation for incarceration in the state's prison and jails.

If the average state is cruising at 70 miles an hour in incarceration, Oklahoma is racing along at 108 mph.

But we could do something about that.

We could fund a full-time Pardon and Parole Board, just as most of our surrounding states have done. With more time to interview parole applicants on an annual or semi-annual basis, instead of reading hundreds of files, full-time board members could get to know the prisoners who have been rehabilitated and deserve reduced supervision on parole.

We could have an incarceration rate closer to Kansas, similar to the national average.

More: 'Tears and fears.' Inmate killings, violence continue to plague Oklahoma's corrections system

Instead of 22,000 inmates, we could have 12,000. That would save $200 million a year. Some of that money should be spent on reentry services to improve the chances the paroled prisoners could be successfully reintegrated into society.

The remaining funds could be funneled into drug courts and mental health courts, drug treatment programs and mental health care.

Substance use disorders are treatable. Mental illness is treatable. But it takes money. Not only do our fellow Oklahomans in jail need this care, but so do many paroled prisoners.

And so do many of us who have never been criminal-justice involved. When we fail to fund mental health and drug treatment programs, we find ourselves with more residents in crisis — with no place to go — except jail.

The cost of a full-time Pardon and Parole Board would be less than $2 million a year, to be taken from a $12.6 billion state budget. That’s almost a rounding error. It would pay for itself over and over again, not only in dollars saved but also in human lives salvaged.

And no taxes would be raised.

Why don’t we do it?

Sue Hinton is a criminal justice advocate and retired English professor.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma jails filled with people suffering from addiction, mental illness