State house passes bill to make thefts over $500 a felony, against previous limits

Legislation passed the State House of Representatives this week that would make thefts over $500 a felony.

"I believe there were some things in 780 that I don't think a lot of people understood that we're making it pretty soft on crime," said State Representative John George, the bill's author.

Approved by voters in 2017, State Question 780 made any theft less than $1,000 a misdemeanor. George pointing to rising crime as one of the reasons to return the threshold to what it once was.

"I was approached with some stats that showed larceny and property thefts had almost tripled since we passed this," he said.

The Oklahoma Policy Institute opposes the measure, saying it's undoing the will of the people.

The group also thinks it would increase the incarceration rate in the state.

"State Question 780 was approved by the voters, they knew what they were doing when they raised the threshold, they wanted to see our incarceration rate drop, and use the money that we save from that to be invested in mental health services," said Cole Allen, a policy analyst for the institute.

George, on the other hand, not seeing a potentially higher incarceration rate as a problem.

"If people need to be in prison, they need to be in prison, and I gladly pay my tax dollars for that. Our goal in government is to keep people safe and help provide a higher quality of life and if we have to put certain people in prison, we have to put them in prison," he said.

Allen and George are also in disagreement over whether the bill would reduce crime.

The bill will now head to the Senate.