OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Legislation supported by Gov. Mary Fallin to increase the value threshold of some property crimes before they're prosecuted as felonies in Oklahoma has been approved by a legislative committee.
The House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee voted 8-1 for the bill Wednesday and sent it to the full House for a vote. It's among several proposals Fallin has made to help reduce overcrowding in the state prison system.
Fallin expressed support for the bill in her State of the State speech on Feb. 1. Fallin says the $500 benchmark for property crime felonies has been in place since 2002 and needs to be raised to $1,000.
Fallin has also called for lowering Oklahoma's mandatory drug possession sentences and reducing some drug crimes to misdemeanors.