OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — By signing two bills into law, Governor Kevin Stitt took a leap towards making the Oklahoma justice system more fair both for victims of crimes and perpetrators.
House Bill 1460 looks to restructure court costs and fees for
House Bill 1462 prioritizes victim restitution.
Both were written by Representative Tammy West, and Gov. Stitt signed them into law.
WATCH: Stitt signs bills aimed at making justice system more fair
“Typically when a woman is coming out of prison they owe thousands upon thousands of dollars back to the county they were prosecuted in," said Katie Dunning, a staff attorney for Legal Aid Services. “You have to pay to be prosecuted, and it’s typically thousands of dollars even just for one charge. You get hit with a fine, plus court costs and fees."
2 News Oklahoma's Cathy Tatum spoke to her in November, after meeting with Lisa Lyons.
Problem Solvers
Many Oklahoma women feel imprisoned by court fees & fines after serving sentence
“In 2003, I caught a case, I went to prison in 2005, saved my life," said Lyons.
After serving time for her crimes, Lyons walked away from prison with nearly $60K in debt from court fees, costs and fines.
“I paid on fines since 2008 and then when I caught my case in 2011," she said. "I of course couldn’t pay while I was in a program and I got back to paying in 2013. I believe I paid over 10 grand in fines because I had three or four cases, not just one, but one of my fines was pretty substantial and it’s the 50 thousand dollar fine for owning a meth lab."
More recently, 2 News received an email from a viewer concerned about the same thing. They said, 'I feel that if I've served my time and am unable to work why must I pay court cost, fines and supervision fees when I can't even afford to buy food to feed myself for the month?'
With this new legislation, West said she's hopeful the road to rehabilitation and reentry into society is sure to be smoother.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Watch LIVE 24/7 on YouTube
