Oklahoma’s District Attorney Supervision program has remained controversial since inception. It is a convoluted system of rehabilitation and supervision for low-level offenders. We look at the serious hurdles that need to be addressed to create a uniform system that benefits all.

Key points:

  • Oklahoma district attorney supervision is a system without clear guidelines and uniformity in its execution. To reform the program, lawmakers must address the need for clear guidelines, public safety concerns, data recording, and funding problems.
  • DA supervision was created to address both supervision for low-level offenders and the financial needs of Oklahoma’s district attorney offices. The system, throughout its history, has raised issues over conflicts of interest, problems with implementation, and no real data measure of success.
  • DA supervision, from a policy standpoint, is failing in its original public safety and financial purpose.
  • Oklahoma’s current climate of high-profile wars over departmental funding and critical problems in core services could hinder certain paths of reform, but meaningful reform is still possible, affordable, and critical to public safety.