Lawmakers looking to cut Oklahoma's prison population, costs

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Oklahoma lawmakers are looking for ways to cut the state's prison population and its rising costs. <br><br>The Legislature is considering sentencing reforms and other proposals

Sunday, March 9th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Oklahoma lawmakers are looking for ways to cut the state's prison population and its rising costs.

The Legislature is considering sentencing reforms and other proposals to reduce the incarceration rate without jeopardizing public safety.

Prison spending in Oklahoma has doubled to almost 400 (m) million in the past ten years.

At the same time, the inmate population has grown from 14-thousand-400 to more than 23-thousand.

The state Senate is considering a plan to resurrect the prison cap law that was repealed in 2001. The law would allow the early release of some nonviolent inmates when prisons become too crowded.

Legislators also are looking at recommendations handed down by the Oklahoma Sentencing Commission.

They include eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses.

And they include making possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a misdemeanor subject to a citation -- similar to a traffic ticket.