Oklahoma Rep. Humphrey seeks probe into DAs' potential illegal collection of probation fees

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Rep. Justin Humphrey sent a letter on Monday to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond requesting an examination into the collection of probation fees by the state's district attorneys.

The request comes after Humphrey's inspection of the process in which he said he 'discovered issues that appear very worrisome and possibly illegal.'

The issue is whether probation fees collected by district attorneys must be used for the actual act of supervision during the actual period the offender is on supervision, or whether the fee can be collected by the district attorneys if a third party is used to oversee probation.

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Humphrey is also said to take issue with how the fees are routed through several different funds which in his opinion is 'akin to money laundering.'

"My fear is that district attorneys across the state have illegally collected probation fees for approximately 11 years," Humphrey said. "The fees have never been applied to the actual act of supervision... if my calculation is correct, that would mean district attorneys illegally have collected approximately $209 million".

Humphrey said he desires to ensure district attorneys are funded correctly.

This is part of Humphrey's larger goal to completely overhaul Oklahoma's criminal justice system.

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