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More Oklahoma Inmates Waiving Parole Than Being Considered by Board

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With Oklahoma’s prisons bursting at the seams, why aren’t more nonviolent offenders being considered for parole?

The Pardon and Parole Board granted early release in about one-third of the 2,458 cases it reviewed last year, which was an increase. Executive Director DeLynn Fudge said many more inmates are choosing not to be even considered for parole.

"Almost 4,800 people are waiving their parole, and we can’t parole them if we don’t see them," Fudge said.

Many inmates waive parole for one to three years in order to get out of prison on regular release.

"They waive for a variety of reasons, but, primarily, it is because they want to flat-time out. They would rather flat-time out with no special conditions by the board than they would having any kind of conditions attached," Fudge said.

Inmates may waive parole even after their hearings with the board.

Fudge said for male inmates, parolees have the lowest recidivism rate: 14.7 percent, compared to 32 percent for offenders on probation and 23.7 percent for inmates who served out their sentences.

"So, what that says to me is, one, we’re paroling the right people, and, two, we’re placing the right conditions on them for them to be successful so that they’re not returning to our Department of Corrections," Fudge said.

For female offenders, recidivism rates hover around 12 to 14 percent in all categories.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.