After years of declining crime rates and decreasing use of incarceration, Oklahoma’s prison population is beginning to rise again. Oklahoma had the highest incarceration rate in the country, but after a series of policy changes at the state and local level focused on increasing the use of alternatives to prison and jail and minimizing the use of prison beds for low-level offenses, Oklahoma’s prison population started declining in 2017. Over the next nearly five years, the state experienced a 17% decline in prison population. This decline coincided with declines in crime, both property and violent crime. However, over the past few years, the prison population has begun to increase and is now close to reaching capacity; yet, this increase is not driven by a spike in crime or even arrests. The data suggest the primary drivers are system factors such as supervision revocations, declining releases, longer prison stays, and increasingly lengthy jail stays.  

Reports & Briefs

From Policy to Practice: Criminal Justice Reform in Oklahoma (Published September 2026): What happened after Oklahoma’s 2017 Justice Reinvestment process? This report examines whether five of the resulting policies produced their intended effects, drawing on ten years of federal and state data and interviews with judges, attorneys, law enforcement, corrections staff, parole board members, and directly affected individuals. Overall, the findings show that results depended less on the policies as written and more on how they were funded and implemented.

Briefs: 

Key takeaways

  • Oklahoma’s crime rate has declined over the past decade, driven largely by reductions in property crime. 
  • Despite lower crime rates, Oklahoma’s prison population has increased substantially since the pandemic. 
  • Oklahoma is approaching prison capacity and, based on recent trends, will exceed capacity in early 2027. 

Timeline

  • 2016: Prison population exceeds capacity; crime rates substantially higher than today. 
  • 2020-2022: Pandemic-era declines in prison population and major changes in release patterns.
  • 2022-2026: Prison population grows 32%. 
  • 2026: At current rate of growth, the population projected to exceed current prison capacity.
  • 2017: State Question 780 takes effect, reclassifying drug possession and some property offenses as misdemeanors.
  • 2017–2018: The legislature passes Justice Reinvestment bills, including administrative parole and expanded alternatives to incarceration.

 What is at stake?

  • Continued prison population growth will exceed capacity and cause prison crowding. 
  • Longer prison and jail stays will increase costs and operational pressures. 
  • Increasing prison and jail costs could divert resources dedicated to treatment for mental illness and addiction to address prison growth. 
  • Policymakers must balance public safety goals with correctional capacity constraints. 

Who is affected?

  • People who live and work in prisons and jails 
  • Law enforcement 
  • Court system 
  • Local governments 
  • Taxpayers 

What is happening to Oklahoma’s prison population?

  • Oklahoma’s prison population grew from 14,930 in 2022 to 19,762 in 2026, an increase of 32%. 
  • Prison growth is being driven by a combination of increased supervision violations, fewer releases, and longer stays in prison. 
  • Prison admissions for public-order offenses increased 12% between 2016 and 2025. 
  • The ratio of supervision-violation recommitments to new commitments increased 56% since 2019. 
  • Total prison releases fell 49% since 2016. 
  • Average prison length of stay increased 37% since 2016. 

Read the full analysis.

What is happening to Oklahoma’s jail population?

  • Jail populations are also feeling pressure, increasing 7% since 2020.  
  • Most people in Oklahoma jails are held awaiting trial and have not been convicted and sentenced.
  • The time held in jail has increased across jail types. 

Read the full analysis.

What are the costs?

  • Growing prison populations and longer incarceration periods increase pressure on correctional resources and bed space. 
  • Oklahoma expanded capacity from 13,537 beds in 2016 to 20,337 beds in 2026.

What should Oklahoma policymakers consider?

  • What factors are contributing to increased supervision-violation recommitments? 
  • Why have prison releases declined despite lower crime rates?
  • What policy options could address projected prison-capacity challenges? 
  • How can the unnecessary use of pretrial detention be reduced while maintaining court appearance and public safety? 

 

 

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