Committee advances bill to let some low-level offenders bypass county jail backlog

The Senate Public Safety Committee passed Senate Bill 2062, a request bill intended to reduce county-jail backlogs by allowing certain low-level, nonviolent offenders to bypass county holding and proceed to DOC intake when they have clear ties to the community.

Senator Pugh, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the change responds to an almost 1,400-person statewide backlog at the Lexington Reception and Classification (LARC) center and cited Oklahoma County as especially affected. "Instead of holding those individuals...this would allow those individuals, once they go through that prescreening process...to skip that process and not be held in the county jail system," Pugh said.

Committee members asked detailed operational questions: whether time in county custody counts toward time served, if probation officers can handle the added logistics of arranging reporting to prison, how inmates without transportation would get to assigned facilities, and whether counties would lose significant revenue from freed-up beds. Pugh said DOC administrative rules could address many details and emphasized the bill’s goal of reducing unnecessary county incarceration while enabling eligible people to access community programs sooner.

To address concerns, Pugh requested unanimous consent to strike the bill title so the measure could be refined; the committee granted the request and debated the amended approach. After discussion about flight risk and safeguards, the committee recorded seven ayes and one nay and declared SB 2062 passed in committee. The sponsor said she would work with members on tightening language before floor action.