Six years since Oklahoma voters approved SQ781 and lawmakers haven't funded rehab efforts

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — Oklahoma lawmakers are putting a spotlight on criminal justice reform.

At an interim study on Monday, state leaders and advocates from both sides of the political spectrum came together to tackle a major funding issue.

Back in 2016, Oklahomans voted in favor of two state questions: SQ780 and SQ781.

The two tie together. SQ780 re-classifies some crimes, such as drug possession and theft, from felonies to misdemeanors.

SQ781 would use the funds saved from lower incarceration rates to go towards rehabilitation efforts.

While the intent was clear, the execution wasn't.

Representative JJ Humphrey, (R)-Lane, called a group of leaders advocating for criminal justice reform to bring their ideas to the table.

The goal is to give people resources for mental health and substance abuse treatment instead of lock them up behind bars.

"Start funding some alternatives like outpatient treatments that we can set up for all areas of the state that can be used to divert these people off the streets into real treatment," Rep. Humphrey said.

While that sounded great to Oklahoma voters, lawmakers haven't followed the wishes of their constituents, yet to put their money where their mouths are.

"We've looked into it and we see that the account has not been funded, not one dime has been put in for funding," Rep. Humphrey said.

The state question passed nearly six years ago, and still no progress. Rep. Humphrey said he's trying to make something happen.

"I actually ran this bill last year and got 100% support on the House side, but it wasn't picked up on the Senate side," Rep. Humphrey said. "I do not understand how it is that we're having to try to run a bill to tell legislators to fund what has already passed as a state question."

OMES, LOFT, and a few lawmakers have already come up with estimates of how much money should have been accumulating in the fund, based off how much money the state has saved in decreased incarceration rates.

While the numbers have dropped significantly, the money is no where to be found.

"As long as we want to incarcerate people and we send all our money to prisons, then we'll incarcerate people. When we want to start changing people, and we want to keep people off of drugs, stop crime and we want to have true impact, then we're going to have to fund that," Rep. Humphrey said.

Rep. Humphrey said he's going to draft a bill to ensure that there's money appropriated to the fund this legislative session.

He's hoping what voters intended when they passed SQ781 will finally happen.