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In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
Today In The News
State education board votes to allow data release: It just got easier to find out basic details about Oklahoma school districts, such as graduation rates, after the state repealed a controversial rule used to redact data for many districts. The state Board of Education voted 6-0, with Cathryn Franks absent, to repeal a rule that was used to redact the graduation rates for 58 percent of the states school districts [Oklahoma Watch].
Asset forfeiture: Do police seize innocent people’s money?: On a March evening in 2013, William Cicco drove away from his Broken Arrow home with a paper bag on the front passenger seat containing $15,555 in cash. He and his wife had been arguing. Cicco left with what he said was money from their savings and a second-mortgage loan. He never imagined the cash would make him a suspect in drug trafficking [Oklahoma Watch].
Prison and medicine: Costing Oklahoma: Last year, the state of Oklahoma spent over $84-million on medication for inmates in the Oklahoma Department of Correction. As in society, prison populations are aging. Here in Oklahoma, 17% of the prison population is over the age of 50 and increasing annually [KWGS].
Suburban communities adding legal pressure onto jail authority: The Owasso City Council on Tuesday will consider supporting a call for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office to intervene in an escalating Tulsa County jail authority disagreement. The request is one of several recent steps among Tulsa County communities moving toward legal action against the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority and Board of County Commissioners [Tulsa World].
Police use of force incidents on the rise in Oklahoma City: Oklahoma leads the nation in the number of police killings per capita so far this year, according to an analysis by The Guardian. Oklahoma City police have been a part of seven fatal officer-involved shootings, which is more than any other department in the state in 2015 [KGOU].
Study: Minimum wage unlivable for Tulsa families: The Economic Policy Institute released its updated Family Budget Calculator. It found that a family of two adults and two children in the Tulsa area needs about $57,000 a year to cover the necessities, including housing, food, childcare, transportation and healthcare [FOX23]. Just over 67,000 Oklahomans worked full-time at or near $7.25/hr between 2008 and 2012. By far the largest group (72.7 percent) were heads of households or married to heads of household [OK Policy].
Quote of the Day
“It’s a shame that in a sense a Colombian drug cartel has become a more reliable revenue source for Oklahoma law enforcement than our state Legislature.”
– Brady Henderson, legal affairs director for the ACLU, on recent controversy surrounding civil asset forfeiture. Brady says some law enforcement departments are reluctant to end the practice because they rely on seized money and goods for funding. (Source)
Number of the Day
12
Retail prescription drugs filled at pharmacies in Oklahoma per capita in 2014.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
I get food stamps, and I’m not ashamed — I’m angry: My name is Christine, and I get food stamps. I’ve had to apply off and on over the past 16 years in order to make sure my family was fed. I don’t feel the least bit ashamed of myself for this, but apparently some people think I should. [Vox].
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