Court records system needs fix
Gov. Mary Fallin signed seven criminal justice reform bills last session meant to combat Oklahoma’s growing prison population. Unfortunately, Oklahoma has yet to stop one of the biggest contributors to the revolving door of its criminal justice system: a broken record reporting system.
When an Oklahoma judge issues an arrest warrant for an individual’s arrest, the court usually reports that warrant to either one of two systems: the Oklahoma State Courts Network (OSCN) and the
On Demand Court Records (ODCR). Both systems need to be checked for outstanding tickets and warrants on arrest reports. If a defendant doesn’t have a computer or access to the internet, it’s difficult to track and inquire about outstanding charges. Without prior knowledge of other outstanding warrants, due to the failure to update warrant reports in a timely manner, low-income defendants and their attorneys cannot request that a judge enter the sentence concurrent with any other sentence. The consequence? Indigent defendants are punished with more debt and more incarceration.
In 2007, Oklahoma contracted for a new system called the Unified Case Management System to replace OSCN and ODCR. The goal was to have a single, online, publicly accessible no-fee statewide court record system, paid for by Oklahoma tax dollars. But in 2014, the Oklahoma Supreme Court canceled the $11 million contract with the company that would have created the website.
All too often, incarcerated individuals in Oklahoma County don’t learn about additional warrants in their name until their jail time ends or just after their release. Until then, the individual’s warrant record remains clear. Yet if there is another now active warrant, the individual will be held for another county to come and pick them up. If the defendant is in state custody, the warrant might be inactive until the sentence is finished and then the defendant would be taken back to jail and prosecuted on any old or new active case.
The Legislature can take certain steps to make its record reporting system functional. First, require all law enforcement agencies and counties to update defendants’ arrest reports in a timely fashion. Second, authorize the creation of a centralized, no-fee resource for defendants to search their outstanding charges. Third, require all counties to provide notice of all charges prior to an individual’s appearance at a courtroom. But until a more unified system can be created, OSCN and ODCR must be required to reduce the costs of their services for indigent defendants.
Fallin and the Legislature have made strong efforts to reform Oklahoma’s criminal justice system, but their efforts do not go far enough. Due to opposition and critical changes made by Oklahoma prosecutors, the impact of recent bills designed to reduce Oklahoma’s incarceration rate will be minimal. Additionally, Oklahoma has yet to adequately address the need for treatment of substance abuse, mental health problems, and the excessive fees and fines assigned to individuals trapped in the criminal justice system.
The system continues to be one that is inherently difficult for low-income Oklahomans to navigate due in part to its lack of transparency and reporting measures. Oklahomans deserve better.