By Tom Lindley, Editor, Oklahoma Watch

Faced with the nation’s highest incarceration rate for women, overcrowded prisons and rising costs, Oklahoma lawmakers recently approved landmark legislation that will begin to address problems in the criminal justice system.

The action comes on the heels of a six-month investigation prompted by Oklahoma Watch, a winner of the Knight Community Information Challenge, and supported by media across the state, including the state’s two major news organizations, the World and The Oklahoman. The investigation focused attention on the problem and created a climate for prison reform, which was a feat in itself in a state so keen on locking people up.

More than 25 other members of the Oklahoma Press Association also published some of the 35 plus stories produced by Oklahoma Watch, the World and The Oklahoman. The broadcast phase of the project also involved public television outlet OETA and public radio stations KWGS-Tulsa and KGOU-Norman, OK.

Oklahoma Watch is a winner of the third Community Information Challenge. Other supporters include the Tulsa Community Foundation, Ethics and Excellence Foundation and The George Kaiser Family Foundation.

The long-form journalism project is focused on the many lengthy sentences handed out to non-violent female offenders and the cost to their children and taxpayers. Oklahoma has had the highest incarceration rate, per capita, in the nation 14 of the past 15 years.

In May, Gov. Mary Fallin signed HB 2131, a bill that increases the eligibility for offenders who can be considered for GPS monitoring and community sentencing; enforces a 30-day deadline for the governor to sign paroles for low-risk non-violent offenders; and adds criteria for who can serve on the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.

Oklahoma was the last state in the nation that required the governor to have the final say on every parole request, which led offenders to remain in prison months after the Parole Board had recommended their release.

State leaders also recently announced a bipartisan effort to develop new justice system policies that will hold offenders accountable while reducing corrections costs.

The Justice Reinvestment Initiative is a collaborative effort to improve Oklahoma’s public safety policies through research, collaboration and data analysis.

Oklahoma also has the nation’s highest female incarceration rate and third highest male incarceration rate, which has resulted in the state’s prisons continually operating at unsustainable maximum capacity levels. The cost of the operating the state’s prison system has increased from $188 million in 1995 to more than $450 million.

As reported by Oklahoma Watch and its media partners, of the 2,760 female offenders who were in Oklahoma’s prisons in 2010, 64 percent had a moderate to high need for substance abuse treatment, and most of the female offenders grew up in homes with someone who had an alcohol or drug problem.

The next step in Oklahoma’s prison reform efforts will be investigating the state’s sentencing policies, said John Estus, House Speaker Kris Steele’s spokesman.

During the months the Legislature isn’t in session, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, corrections officials and policy experts from Oklahoma and other states will study the state’s sentencing policies.

Estus said Steele and the backers of HB 2131 hope to continue the momentum experienced during this legislative session.

Oklahoma Watch and its media partners will continue to focus on the issue throughout next year’s session, as well as begin coverage of immigration issues and Oklahoma’s tax code and budget cuts. Rather than follow traditional newsroom models, Oklahoma Watch focuses on long-form journalism and expanded coverage of a few topics at a time, as well as finding new ways to engage the greater Oklahoma community.