At a forum in north Tulsa, candidates for Tulsa County District Attorney agreed that court fines and fees need to be reviewed.
Democrat Jenny Proehl-Day said the current setup, where district attorney offices are mostly funded through those fees, creates a conflict of interest.
"Every single filing decision that an assistant district attorney makes, they have a financial benefit in that decision making," Proehl-Day said.
Republican Steve Kunzweiler said he doesn’t like the arrangement, either.
"The idea that a DA has to be collecting fees on the backs of the people they’re prosecuting is simply immoral," Kunzweiler said.
Proehl-Day and Kunzweiler said state lawmakers need to increase funding for district attorneys so they aren’t reliant upon court fees.
The candidates laid out their views on prosecuting police misconduct. Kunzweiler said he is not beholden to reports from internal investigations.
"I had Robert Bates, the reserve deputy who shot Eric Harris. I had Shannon Kepler, an off-duty officer who killed his daughter’s boyfriend. I had Officer Betty Shelby. You know, you saw, what I will do," Kunzweiler said, naming law enforcement officers his office has prosecuted.
Proehl-Day said the legal standard for misconduct is reacting differently than a reasonable officer would in the same circumstances, which is not always clear in reports.
"At that point in time, it’s appropriate for the district attorney’s office to reach out to an expert in police training and experience regarding use of force and have them review the case as well, with you, to make a determination," Proehl-Day said.
The candidates have different views on whether past sentences should be reviewed after voters reduced drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor in 2016.
Proehl-Day said overcrowding makes revisiting sentences a must.
"We are at a crisis in our Department of Corrections situation at 115 percent capacity. We need to retroactively apply that. We are talking about people who are addicts," Proehl-Day said.
Kunzweiler said the law in place at the time needs to be upheld.
"If our legislature tomorrow decides that they want to now criminalize and make possession of methamphetamine a felony, should I be entitled to go back for all those people who were charged with misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine and now charge them with a felony, put them in prison? No," Kunzweiler said.
The candidates also disagreed on why the state is putting so many people in prison. Kunzweiler said drug laws have been the main problem, and he has little support from the legislature to use deferred prosecution or put people in programs like drug courts. Proehl-Day said there has always been discretion in prosecution and Kunzweiler hasn't done enough with alternatives.
