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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
HOUSE BILL 2514 By: Kannady
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to prisons and reformatories;
amending 57 O.S. 2011, Section 332.2, as last amended
by Section 5, Chapter 459, O.S.L. 2 019 (57 O.S. Supp.
2020, Section 332.2), which relates to commutations;
prohibiting recommendations for commuting
restitution; clarifying eligibility requirements for
commutations; defining term; updating internal
citation; and declaring an emergency .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 57 O.S. 2011, Section 332.2, as
last amended by Section 5, Chapter 459, O.S.L. 2019 (57 O.S. Supp.
2020, Section 332.2), is amended to read as fo llows:
Section 332.2 A. The Pardon and Parole Board, which shall meet
only on the call of the Chairman, is authorized, if and when an
application made to the Governor for a reprieve, commutation,
parole, pardon, or other act of clemency is certified ther eto by the
Governor, to examine into the merits of said application and make
recommendations to the Governor in relation thereto, said
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recommendation recommendations being advisory to the Governor and
not binding thereon.
B. 1. Any consideration for comm utation shall be made only
after application is made to the Pardon and Parole Board pursuant to
the procedures set forth in this section. The Pardon and Parole
Board shall provide a copy of the application to the district
attorney, the victim or represent ative of the victim and the Office
of the Attorney General within ten (10) business days of receipt of
such application.
2. The Pardon and Parole Board shall be prohibited from
recommending to the Governor any application that seeks to commute
restitution owed by a person in a criminal case.
3. Inmates in the custody of the Department of Corrections or
persons serving a probationary term as a result of the suspension of
a sentence shall be el igible for commutation consideration.
C. An application for c ommutation, other than those provided
for in subsection F of this section, must be sent to the trial
officials, who shall have twenty (20) business days to provide a
written recommendation or protest prior to consideration of the
application. Trial offici als shall include:
1. The current elected judge of the court where the conviction
was had;
2. The current elected district attorney of the jurisdiction
where the conviction was had; or
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3. The chief or head administrative officer of the arresting
law enforcement agency.
D. In cases resolved prior to the tenure of the present
officeholders, the recommendation or protest of persons holding such
offices at the time of conviction may also be considered by the
Board.
E. The recommendation for commutation of a sentence by a trial
official may include the following:
1. A statement that the penalty now appears to be excessive;
2. A recommendation of a definite term now considered by the
official as just and proper; and
3. A statement of the reasons for the re commendation based upon
facts directly related to the case which were not available to the
court or jury at the time of the trial or based upon there having
been a statutory change in penalty for the crime which makes the
original penalty appear excessive.
F. The Pardon and Parole Board shall establish an accelerated,
single-stage commutation docket for any applicant who has been
convicted of a crime that has been reclassified from a felony to a
misdemeanor under Oklahoma law. The Pardon and Parole Board shall
be empowered to recommend to the Governor for commutation, by
majority vote, any commutation application placed on the
accelerated, single-stage commutation docket that meets the
eligibility criteria provided above. The Department of Corrections
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shall certify a list of potentially eligible inmates to the Pardon
and Parole Board within thirty (30) days of the effective date of
this act. As used in this subsection, "any applicant" shall include
inmates in the custody of the Department of Corrections o r persons
serving a probationary term as a result of the suspension of a
sentence.
G. The Pardon and Parole Board shall schedule the application
on a commutation docket in compliance with the notice requirements
set forth herein. The Board shall provide the victim or
representative of the victim at least twenty (20) days to offer
recommendations or protests before consideration of the application.
H. Applications for commutation shall be given impartial review
as required in Section 10 of Article VI of t he Oklahoma
Constitution.
I. Any consideration for pardon shall be made only after
application is made to the Pardon and Parole Board. Upon receipt of
an application for pardon, the Board shall provide a copy of the
application to the district attorney, the victim or representative
of the victim and the Office of the Attorney General within twenty
(20) business days of receipt of such application. The district
attorney and the victim or representative of the victim shall have
twenty (20) business days to provide written recommendation or
protest prior to the consideration of the application. The Board
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shall schedule the application on a pardon docket in compliance with
the notice requirements set forth herein.
J. In accordance with Section 10 of Article VI of the Oklahoma
Constitution, the Board shall communicate to the Legislature, at
each regular session, by providing a summary of the activities of
the Board. This summary shall include, but not be limited to, the
following Board activity activities:
1. The approval or recommendation rates of the Board for both
violent and nonviolent offenses;
2. The parole approval rates for each individual Board member
for both violent and nonviolent offenses; and
3. The percentage of public comments to and persona l
appearances before the Board including victim protests and personal
appearances, district attorney protests and personal appearances,
and delegate recommendations and personal appearances on behalf of
the offender.
This summary shall be made available to the public through
publication on the website of the Pardon and Parole Board.
K. The Pardon and Parole Board shall provide a copy of their
regular docket and administrative parole docket to each district
attorney in this state at least twenty (20) days b efore such docket
is considered by the Board, or in the case of a supplemental,
addendum or special docket, at least ten (10) days before such
docket is considered by the Board, and shall notify the district
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attorney of any recommendations for commutations or paroles no later
than twenty (20) days after the docket is considered by the Board.
L. The Pardon and Parole Board shall notify all victims or
representatives of the victim in writing at least twenty (20) days
before an inmate is considered by the Boa rd provided the Board has
received a request from the victim or representatives of the victim
for notice. The Board shall provide all victims or representatives
of the victim with the date, time and place of the scheduled meeting
and rules for attendance and providing information or input to the
Board regarding the inmate or the crime. If requested by the victim
or representatives of the victim, the Board shall allow the victim
or representatives of the victim to testify at the parole hearing of
the inmate for at least five (5) minutes.
M. The Pardon and Parole Board shall notify all victims or
representatives of the victim in writing of the decision of the
Board no later than twenty (20) days after the inmate is considered
by the Board.
N. Any notice required to be provided to the victims or the
representatives of the victim shall be mailed by first -class mail to
the last-known address of the victim or representatives of the
victim. It is the responsibility of the victims or representatives
of the victim to provide the Pardon and Parole Board a current
mailing address. The victim -witness coordinator of the district
attorney shall assist the victims or representatives of the victim
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with supplying their address to the Board if they wish to be
notified. Upon failure of the Pardon and Parole Board to notify a
victim who has requested notification and has provided a current
mailing address, the final decision of the Board may be voidable,
provided, the victim who failed to receive notification requests a
reconsideration hearing within thirty (30) days of the
recommendation by the Board for parole. The Pardon and Parole Board
may reconsider previous action and may rescind a recommendation if
deemed appropriate as determined by the Board.
O. For purposes of t his section, "victim" shall mean all
persons who have suffered direct or threatened physical or emotional
harm, or financial loss as the result of the commission or attempted
commission of criminally injurious conduct, and "representatives of
the victim" shall mean those persons who are members of the
immediate family of the victim, including stepparents, stepbrothers,
stepsisters, and stepchildren.
P. All meetings of the Pardon and Parole Board shall comply
with Section 301 et seq. of Title 25 of the Oklahoma Statutes Open
Meeting Act; provided that the Board shall have the authority to
limit the number of persons attending in support of, or in
opposition to, any inmate being considered for parole and shall have
the authority to exclude persons from attend ance in accordance with
prison security regulations and the capacity of the meeting room.
Persons excluded from attending the meeting under this provision
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shall be informed of their right to be informed of the vote of the
Board in accordance with Section 312 of Title 25 of the Oklahoma
Statutes. Provided further, nothing in this section shall be
construed to prevent any member of the press or any public official
from attending any meeting of the Pardon and Parole Board, except as
provided by the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.
Q. All victim information maintained by the Department of
Corrections and the Pardon and Parole Board shall be confidential
and shall not be released.
SECTION 2. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
58-1-6992 GRS 12/18/20