Justice System

An overview of our work on Oklahoma’s Justice System

Oklahoma’s criminal justice system is in a crisis. Prisons have grown increasingly costly and overcrowded without any clear pay-off in public safety. OK Policy promotes a smart-on-crime mentality towards criminal justice — one that doesn’t pursue punishment for its own sake, but instead looks for what works to protect public safety in the most cost-effective way.

See all of our justice system research here.

Jump to: Areas of Focus | Quick Facts | Featured Reports | Experts

Areas of Focus

Bail & Pretrial Release

Criminal Justice Reform

Fines & Fees

Prisons & Jails

Racial Disparities

Rehabilitation & Reintegration

Justice System Facts

Featured Articles and Reports

Strategies for Building Trust Between Law Enforcement and Communities in Oklahoma: Executive Summary

By: Ryan Gentzler
November 27, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
[Download the full report as a pdf.] [Download a summary table of reform proposals.] Contents Introduction Problem Overview Reform Proposals Case Studies Conclusion Executive Summary Law enforcement officers in Oklahoma face a challenging environment. Recent reports place the state near the top for both rates of people killed by police and police officers killed in More...

The Cost Trap: How Excessive Fees Lock Oklahomans Into the Criminal Justice System without Boosting State Revenue: Executive Summary

By: Ryan Gentzler
January 31, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Tens of thousands of Oklahomans enter the justice system each year and come out with thousands of dollars in legal financial obligations. For poor Oklahomans, this debt can amount to most of their family’s income, and it often leads to a cycle of incarceration and poverty. Read more... More...

What’s driving Oklahoma’s prison population growth?

By: Ryan Gentzler
February 9, 2016 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Oklahoma has the second highest incarceration rate in the country, up from fourth highest in 2012, with approximately 1,310 out of every 100,000 of our citizens incarcerated in 2014. The state appropriated $485 million to the Department of Corrections in FY 2016, but even that amount was not enough to cope with increasingly overcrowded and understaffed prisons. Meanwhile, More...

Issue Brief: Barriers to Affordable Housing for Oklahomans with Felony Convictions

By: Carly Putnam
July 16, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Finding affordable housing is one of the most difficult barriers faced by Oklahomans with a felony conviction in their past. Yet Oklahoma's major public housing assistance programs frequently exclude people with felony records, and even those who have been arrested without being charged, from getting help. More...

Justice System Experts

Ryan Gentzler // Twitter @rcgentzler // rgentzler@okpolicy.org

Ryan Gentzler joined OK Policy in January of 2016 as a policy analyst focusing on criminal justice issues, including sentencing, incarceration, court fines and fees, and pretrial detention. Open Justice Oklahoma grew out of Ryan’s groundbreaking analysis of court records, which was used to inform critical policy debates. A native Nebraskan, he holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Oklahoma and a BA in Institutions and Policy from William Jewell College. He served as an OK Policy Research Fellow in 2014-2015.

Damion Shade // dshade@okpolicy.org

Damion joined Oklahoma Policy Institute in July of 2018 as the criminal justice policy analyst. He grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and has lived in Oklahoma since the late 90s. Prior to joining OK Policy, he was an educator at Jenks Public Schools and the Oklahoma School for the Performing Arts. He’s written education and justice features as a contributing writer for the Tulsa Voice since 2016, and he was awarded best Education and General News Reporting features by the Society for Professional Journalists in 2017. Damion earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Oral Roberts University and started several voter registration and political advocacy initiatives during his time on campus. He lives in Tulsa with his wife Rachel.

Ashley Harvey // aharvey@okpolicy.org

Ashley Harvey joined OK Policy as the justice data analyst for Open Justice Oklahoma in September 2018. A native Oklahoman, she received her B.S. and M.S. from Oklahoma State University-Tulsa in Human Development and Family Science. She previously worked as a research assistant for OSU’s Center for Family Resilience evaluating various community and grant funded projects. As an Albert Schweitzer Fellow, she developed and implemented a family strengthening initiative within Tulsa County Juvenile Detention Center. Ashley is an alumna of OK Policy’s 2017 Summer Policy Institute. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from OSU, where her research interests include family and community impacts of the justice system. She lives in the Tulsa area with her husband, Bryan, and their two children.