MADD says drunken drivers shouldn't be eligible for early release

<br>TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ More than 170 people convicted of drunken driving, including repeat offenders, are on a list of prison inmates who may be freed as part of a commutation program. <br><br>Gov. Frank

Wednesday, November 27th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ More than 170 people convicted of drunken driving, including repeat offenders, are on a list of prison inmates who may be freed as part of a commutation program.

Gov. Frank Keating has asked that inmates eligible for early release be nonviolent offenders with no violent crimes.

The state executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving says drunk drivers shouldn't be classified as nonviolent offenders.

``This is one of the most frequently occurring violent crimes in our country,'' she told the Tulsa World. ``If they haven't harmed or killed anyone yet, it's completely by chance.''

Henderson said Keating has been a supporter of MADD so she hopes he will reconsider releasing drunken drivers.

``I want him to realize what this will mean for the safety of our roads and what it will say to others about the consequences of drinking and driving,'' she said.

In a letter Monday to the state Pardon and Parole Board, Keating proposed commuting the sentences of slightly more than 1,000 inmates as a way to deal with budget shortfalls confronting the Department of Corrections.

An analysis of the list of inmates under consideration shows that Tulsa County ranked first, with 279 inmates who were convicted in the county. Oklahoma County ranked second, with 175 inmates.

Keating asked that inmates be selected under these criteria: no current or past convictions for violent crimes, including as a juvenile; no more than one prior felony incarceration; a term of five years or less left to serve; no detainers from other jurisdictions; no delayed sentences; and no drug trafficking convictions.

Most of the inmates under consideration are drug offenders, including several convicted of distributing drugs within 1,000 feet of a park or school. Other crimes on the list include eluding a police officer, running a roadblock and various weapons offenses.

More than 170 people with DUI convictions, including several serving time for multiple DUIs, also are on the list.

Included is Steven Wayne Hambrick, who was convicted three times this year in Rogers County of driving under the influence, records show. He also pleaded no contest in 1997 to a DUI charge in Rogers County and received a deferred sentence.

Hambrick, 45, is in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and is scheduled to be released in 2005.

Dan Mahoney, a spokesman for Keating, said the list of inmates ``could certainly be pared down even farther.''