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Panel advances bill requiring pretrial risk assessments in criminal cases
Summary
Senate Bill 1618 would require courts to conduct validated pretrial risk assessments before arraignment decisions; sponsors said the county‑by‑county approach is modeled on federal practice and intended to reduce local jail populations, while members raised capacity and fairness questions. Committee reported the bill 6–4.
Representative Harris presented an amended version of Senate Bill 1618, saying the measure would require courts to conduct risk assessments in early stages of criminal cases to help judges decide bond and release terms. "This is currently being done on the federal level for all federal cases, and this is an attempt to replicate that on the state level," Harris said, describing the proposal as one of several tools judges could use.
Members asked how assessments would be validated and who would perform them. Representative Pifer asked, "Who's the validator?" Harris replied the bill is written broadly to allow counties to determine what works locally; he said in Oklahoma County the district attorney’s office performs these assessments and the measure is intended as a county‑by‑county option.
Several members raised operational concerns for small counties. Representative Piper asked whether the requirement would delay routine bond releases in sparsely staffed counties; Harris said the assessments would be done at or before arraignment so they should not replace immediate bond processes but acknowledged implementation would vary by county. Representative Fugate asked about the term "actuarial assessment" and whether the bill would substitute statistical judgments for judicial discretion; Harris said the assessments are tools for fact‑based decisions and that attorneys currently ask relevant questions in counties where assessments are being used.
Representative Heffner and others pressed fiscal questions; Harris said costs would not be large and noted the measure aims to reduce jail populations, citing Oklahoma County's capacity issues. After discussion, the committee voted to report the bill out as do pass with a recorded tally of 6 ayes and 4 nays.
