Misdemeanors are a feeder pool for further criminal justice

Misdemeanors seem to many people to be the minor annoyances of the justice system. If you have a few hundred dollars, you can usually avoid jail time and pay your way out of any life-altering consequences. 

What most Oklahomans do not know is that there are hundreds of people serving jail time on non-violent misdemeanors all across our state at any given time. Research has shown that if someone has a non-violent misdemeanor dismissed, they are less likely to go on to commit a felony in the two years subsequent. But if the misdemeanor is prosecuted, they are much more likely to be prosecuted for a felony within those next two years. 

Oklahoma Appleseed has hired three Legal Research Fellows to study misdemeanor justice in Oklahoma. Our report will be made public with spending realities, opportunities for improvement at the county and state levels. Misdemeanor reform is a low risk option for states considering felony reform, but are unsure about the impacts to public safety. 

The Harris County District Court has enacted several reforms to their misdemeanor system after being sued because their bail practices were unconstitutional. They have found that with relatively inexpensive reforms, failure to appear rates remain low and they are able to release almost all misdemeanants pre-trial with little risk to public safety. 

Once Oklahoma Appleseed knows more about the on-the-ground reality of misdemeanor prosecutions in the state, we can make recommendations that will save  taxpayer dollars and reduce the negative interruptions on our citizens' lives caused by misdemeanor convictions.