By AP
Oklahoma City, OK – Plan: $110M to address Okla. prison population
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Oklahoma House Speaker Kris Steele has unveiled a proposal that calls for spending an additional $110 million during the next 10 years in an effort to reduce crime and as a result reduce the increasing prison population.
The plan announced Wednesday would increase state funding to local law enforcement, victim and witness services, oversight of paroled inmates, substance abuse treatment programs and add evaluations to all convicts as they enter prison.
The proposal is the result of a 7-month study that Steele said was funded by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The study says the state's 2011 prison population of 26,692 will rise to about 29,700 in 2021 if no changes are made. It says the number would be about 26,700 if the proposal is adopted.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.