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Pardon and Parole Board outlines automation gains, flat FY27 request and plans to modernize victim notifications
Summary
Kyle Counts, new executive director, told the committee the Pardon & Parole Board has digitized pardon processes, adopted emergency rules for nonviolent revocations, and is pursuing automation (ICON integration) and victim-notification modernization while requesting a flat FY27 appropriation and addressing staffing challenges.
Kyle Counts, executive director of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, told the appropriations committee the agency has reduced its office footprint, upgraded its SharePoint and website, and brought several processes online to improve efficiency. "Our vision: the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board envisions a parole and pardon system that promotes and utilizes fair and equitable decision making," Counts said while describing recent automation work.
Counts said the board has implemented an ICON offender-management integration and returned revocation hearings in-house to save legal-contractor costs; he cited a FY25 saving of roughly $35,650 from bringing revocation hearings internal. Counts also described efforts to speed release preparation and reduce manual workflows through digitization and automation.
For FY27 the board asked for a flat appropriation compared with FY26 and noted it receives no federal funding. Counts described workforce-retention challenges (21.4 FTEs budgeted, two vacancies previously reported) and plans to modernize victim notification by moving from mailed letters to automated text and email systems — a change he said will require statutory updates and system enhancements.
Committee members asked about whether denied applicants and inmates receive written reasons for denial; Counts said ballots record board members’ reasons and that inmates may request a copy of the ballot. He confirmed the agency can provide denial reasons upon request but said routine automatic written notification is not currently standard practice.
Counts closed by inviting further questions and confirming the agency will continue to pursue automation to free staff for higher-value tasks. No votes were taken during the presentation.
