In continuing to look at the work we accomplished this past legislative session, this week I am focusing on corrections and county and municipal government measures that will make a difference for our local communities and our state overall.
In corrections, we passed:
HB 3270, which clarifies that a defendant named in an action or indictment is not required to pay the costs unless the court exercises its discretion and the parties agree. The measure provides that in determining the ability of a person to pay fines, fees, costs, or assessments, any monies received from a federal or state government needbased assistance program is not to be counted as personal income. The court may reduce the amount a person owes if it is determined by the court that the person does not have the ability to pay the fines, fees, costs, or assessments. However, if the court determines that a reduction is warranted, the court must equally apply the same percentage reduction to the fines, fees, costs, or assessments owed by the person..
HB 4369 modifies the administrative parole process of the Pardon and Parole Board by allowing a person within one calendar year of their discharge date to be eligible for consideration. The measure prohibits persons who are eligible for administrative parole from waiving their consideration for parole and allows for persons under parole supervision to earn discharge credits for compliance with the terms and conditions of parole supervision that reduce the term of supervision.
These measures ease some of the burdens that exist within in our criminal justice system. They give the courts and our Pardon and Parole Board greater discretion toward more quickly restoring those who have served their sentences and getting them back to being productive members of society.
In the area of county and municipal government, lawmakers worked to improve infrastructure and address inflation, and inefficiencies.
HB 3037 creates within the Oklahoma Department of Transportation the Municipal Road Drilling Activity Revolving Fund, which will receive a $5 million appropriation each year. Municipalities with less than 15,000 people are eligible to apply for funding to repair roads that were damaged as a result of increased use from oil or gas drilling activity.
HB 3819 appropriates $5 million into the newly created Oklahoma Disaster Mitigation and Recovery Matching Fund within the state Department of Commerce. This fund will help local governments meet the requirement of providing matching funds when applying for federal aid for disaster mitigation or recovery.
