By:
Steve Lewis
December 4, 2023 // Updated: December 4, 2023
Oklahoma's justice system remains heavily tilted toward overincarceration. Even unnecessarily lengthy deferred and suspended sentences are often only a precursor to a lengthy prison sentence. As the prison numbers are now beginning to go back up, other essential state services are being shortchanged to support overincarceration.
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By:
Dave Hamby
December 2, 2023 // Updated: December 2, 2023
What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In…
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By:
Steve Lewis
November 28, 2023 // Updated: November 28, 2023
If a blue ribbon study were conducted today, it’s likely the most urgent threats to America’s schools would be (1) not enough people want to be a teacher, and (2) too many students are chronically absent from school. Solutions would be difficult both to agree upon and to implement.
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By:
Dave Hamby
November 25, 2023 // Updated: November 25, 2023
What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In…
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By:
Steve Lewis
November 22, 2023 // Updated: November 22, 2023
It was recently announced by the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) that the Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center (COJC), located in Tecumseh, completed its American Correctional Association (ACA) audit and received a 100 percent compliance score of the 38 mandatory files…
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By:
Dave Hamby
November 18, 2023 // Updated: November 18, 2023
Weekly Wonk, Nov. 18, 2023: Minding the gap for youth justice | Churn in state agency leadership | Tribal-state compacts | More
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By:
Steve Lewis
November 14, 2023 // Updated: November 14, 2023
With the change giving the governor the hiring and firing of agency directors, the state will continue to see more turnover in agency leadership. Political appointees will come and go rather than seeing their job as a career. In the five agencies above, a majority of the boards are appointed by the governor and serve at the pleasure of the governor so, in effect, the governor can control both the boards and the directors.
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By:
Dave Hamby
November 11, 2023 // Updated: November 11, 2023
Weekly Wonk, Nov. 12, 2023: Oklahoma still reeling from decades of budget cuts | Respecting tribal sovereignty starts at the top | Youth justice
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By:
Steve Lewis
November 6, 2023 // Updated: November 6, 2023
During the decade downturn in the state’s economy, state agencies were hollowed out. When the economy turned around, the governor insisted on agencies submitting flat budget requests to the legislature and “saving” the increased revenue in various accounts. Then he used the “savings” to demand tax cuts.
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