Criminal justice reform has been a long-running project of the Oklahoma Legislature. This year, legislators advanced a number of bills that will improve the criminal justice system in Oklahoma, and largely managed to avoid undoing previous work. Going into the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers should continue to prioritize building upon progress rather than tearing down policies that work.
Policy wins will make Oklahoma’s justice system more fair, effective, and efficient
The Legislature advanced bills to further build on prior reform efforts. House Bill 1460 and HB 1462 by Rep. Tammy West and Sen. Gollihare provide impactful reforms to Oklahoma’s harmful justice system fees. HB 1460 eliminates a number of unnecessary fees charged to justice-involved people and expands judges’ ability to waive monthly supervision fees. HB 1462 directs courts to prioritize restitution payments over collecting fines and fees, ensuring that victims can be made whole faster. Oklahoma’s system of fees is exploitative, outdated, and fails to collect sufficient revenue to justify the harm it causes to Oklahoma’s families and communities. Reversing the state’s reliance on fees has been a priority for multiple Oklahoma justice groups for several years, and passing bills is an important step in making Oklahoma’s criminal justice system more fair and effective.
Fees Impacted by HB 1460 |
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Fee Name | Amount | Agency/Fund |
Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana or Drug Paraphernalia | $5 | Bureau of Narcotics Drug Education Revolving Fund |
Reimbursement to Clean Up Drug Labs | No Set Cost | Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation |
Electronic Monitoring | $300/month | Department of Corrections |
Indigent Defense Application | $40 | Court Clerks |
Misdemeanor or Felony DUI | $15 | Department of Public Safety |
Drug Abuse Education Revolving Fund | $100 | Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services |
DA Supervision Fee* | $40/month | General Revenue Fund |
*HB 1460 does not eliminate this fee. Rather, it allows judges to waive the fee if they deem fit and forgives the outstanding debt if the period of supervision is completed. |
Other measures further build on previous years’ progress. HB 2104 and HB 2105 by Rep. Osburn and Sen. Rader clean up a bill from the 2024 session — HB 1792 — that categorized Oklahoma’s felonies in order to standardize sentencing across the state. The new classification system goes into effect January 2026. Senate Bill 690 by Sen. Bergstrom and Rep. Lepak also became law, which will allow justice-involved people who attain a GED while in jail pretrial to access the same good time credits as if they had attained it after their conviction. These credits take time off the backend of someone’s sentence for good behavior, participation in certain programs, and completing certain goals, like obtaining a GED. This bill will help ensure more justice-involved people are set up for success upon reentry and reduce the time they spend incarcerated-saving taxpayers money.
Finally, SB 251 by Sen. Gollihare and Rep. Stinson extends access to the County Community Safety Investment Fund, established by SQ 781. This fund takes the money saved by State Question 780, which reclassified a number of low-level, non-violent drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, and invests it in necessary support services across the state. Even though the voters approved this fund in 2016, the Legislature did not appropriate the required money until 2023. SB 251 expands the types of services that qualify for funding and establishes a minimum grant of 0.5% of the total appropriated funds: $62,500 of the total $12.5 million for the upcoming fiscal year. These changes help ensure that more vital mental health and community services will be accessible across Oklahoma.
Some positive bills fell through the cracks
Not every bill reforming fines and fees became law this year. SB 973 by Sen. Gollihare would have ended the exploitative practice of courts and other state agencies contracting with private debt collectors. These contracts increase the costs of fees for justice-involved people and make the fee payment process even more complicated. Unfortunately, this bill was not heard in the Senate Business and Insurance committee, but can be heard next year.
SB 601 by Sen. Rader and Rep. Williams would have placed a moratorium on the death penalty in Oklahoma until June 2027 and established a task force to study potential reforms to capital punishment. A number of high-profile cases of Oklahoma’s death row in recent years has brought a new wave of scrutiny to the use of capital punishment. This is particularly true for cases with significant questions surrounding the fairness of the original prosecution, like that of Richard Glossip. Pressing pause on the death penalty would save the state money and give both the state and those on death row time to determine a better path forward. SB 601 passed the Senate Judiciary committee, but was not heard on the Senate floor.
Not many bad policies became law, but advocates should remain on alert
This year, a number of bad criminal justice policies advanced through the legislature, but many did not become law. Despite this temporary win, these bills and their ideas may be revived next session. One particularly harmful policy that did not make it into law would have rolled back provisions of State Questions 780 related to shoplifting. The original version of HB 1592 by Rep. George and Sen. Weaver contained language to decrease the felony threshold for shoplifting to $500 from $1,000, reversing a change voters approved in 2016. Lowering this threshold would have sent more people to prison for a nonviolent property crime, directly contradicting the will of Oklahoma’s voters. Even though this measure was removed from the final version of the bill, the final version still paves the way for increased incarceration by creating a new felony of “Organized Retail Crime” with fairly broad criteria. Property crime is down in Oklahoma, making this heightened focus on shoplifting out of step with the state’s larger problems. Gov. Stitt vetoed HB 1592, but was overridden by the legislature; it goes into effect November 1, 2025.
There were a number of bills heard this year that aimed to further criminalize homelessness. While none of these bills became law, they indicate a concerning trend towards using the criminal-legal system to hide away problems instead of addressing their roots. Bills like HB 1689 and SB 748 would have created new and unique crimes associated with stealing or possessing stolen shopping carts, which is already a crime under Oklahoma law. These bills would have given law enforcement officers more cause to stop and question individuals they see with shopping carts, many of whom are homeless, potentially leading to arrest. Neither of these bills became law. Further, HB 1764 by Rep. Kerbs and Sen. Hamilton sought to expand upon last year’s SB 1854 (2024) that criminalized unauthorized camping on state lands to include municipal and county land. This is an unnecessary, cruel, and misguided policy that would have wasted tax dollars by jailing people rather than solving the problems that lead to homelessness. While HB 1794 did not make it to the governor’s desk, it can still be considered next year.
The 2025 session sets Oklahoma up for success, but lawmakers must continue to follow through
The Oklahoma Legislature largely moved criminal justice policy in the right direction this year while avoiding major steps backward. Major reforms to Oklahoma’s fines and fees system set our state up to lead the nation away from this exploitative method of funding courts. Further, standardizing Oklahoma’s criminal code sets a path away from over-incarceration and toward fairer, more equitable practices. While there were some missteps, like the creation of a new and unnecessary felony for organized retail crime, most bad policies stopped short of the governor’s desk. Looking forward to next year, Oklahoma’s lawmakers need to prioritize building up recent wins rather than spending time on policies meant to tear down some of our most vulnerable populations.