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Committee advances bill aimed at reducing county jail backlogs by using DOC intake centers

Rules Committee · April 15, 2026

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Summary

Chairman Osborne and committee members advanced Senate Bill 2062, a bill originated by a constituent and sponsored in the Senate to allow certain nonviolent inmates to be transported to Department of Corrections intake centers to reduce county jail overcrowding; sponsors removed the enacting clause and adopted narrowing amendments and the committee reported the bill 8–1.

Chairman Osborne yielded the chair to the vice chair so he could present Senate Bill 2062 and an accompanying amendment. Osborne said the bill began as an idea from a constituent who sits on the Oklahoma County Jail Trust and is intended to reduce the number of inmates waiting in county jails to be transported to the Department of Corrections (DOC). He described the bill as an attempt to ‘‘solve a problem’’ of county jail overcrowding by directing certain inmates to specific DOC intake centers and noted he removed the bill’s title and enacting clause to allow more work and amendments before floor consideration.

Osborne made a personal appeal for collaboration rather than automatic opposition: "What if instead of automatically just going to no ... what if we recognize that sometimes people have pure intentions and are just trying to solve a problem in front of them?" He said stakeholders, including DOC and the Department of Corrections, helped draft an amendment that limits where inmates may self‑report and that another member’s idea will be incorporated on the floor.

Representative Fugate praised Osborne’s leadership and asked technical questions about the bill’s sentencing‑oriented determinations, criminal history, and the use of "ties to the community" as a factor. Osborne acknowledged the language likely needs refinement and invited members to work with him to add clarifying language, including explicit language excluding violent criminals from eligibility.

After brief questions and a recorded voice vote, committee clerks announced a vote result described in committee as "8 to 1" in favor of reporting the bill as passed out of committee. Osborne returned the chair to the committee chairmanship and closed by thanking members for their service.