The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board can’t sidestep the Department of Corrections in determining medical parole eligibility, the attorney general’s office decided last month.
The Parole Board voted 4-0 in October to request an attorney general’s opinion on the matter, asking whether its executive director had the statutory authority to place an inmate on the medical parole docket at a request made by any party. The request followed litigation filed by James Havens, a terminally ill Oklahoma prisoner who alleges the Department of Corrections did not adequately advance his medical parole application as his health deteriorated.
State law stipulates that the Department of Corrections director has the authority to recommend medical parole. But as the number of medical parole referrals plummeted, the Board says it received several requests to adopt an expansive view of medical parole and take docketing requests from additional parties.
“The state’s exposure to litigation will increase as long as the question remains outstanding, and the status quo unquestioned,” former Pardon and Parole Board Executive Director Tom Bates, who retired last month, wrote to Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
Just 12 prisoners have been referred to a medical parole docket since the Legislature modified the statute in 2021, with half of them ultimately securing release. In 2020 alone, a dozen prisoners were granted medical parole.
Meanwhile, the state’s aging prison population has doubled since 2009.
The Department of Corrections adopted a multi-step bureaucratic process for medical parole after Senate Bill 320 became law.
The agency’s policy, adopted in July 2022, requires a comprehensive public safety assessment after medical staff deems a prisoner eligible for medical parole. While other prisoners seeking parole face similar evaluations, they are not a prerequisite for securing a hearing before the Pardon and Parole Board.
The policy also does not stipulate a timeline for the agency director to act on recommendations from medical and security staff. In a Dec. 19 opinion, the Attorney General’s office concluded that the Legislature had the authority to grant such discretion to the Department of Corrections director. The Pardon and Parole Board’s role in the medical process may begin only “on receipt of the DOC Director’s request.”
“The choice to initiate the medical parole process by requiring a request from the DOC Director falls within the Legislature’s power,” the opinion reads. “Ultimately, the PPB still has authority to recommend parole, and the Governor still has the final decision to grant parole.”
Pardon and Parole Board Executive Director Kyle Counts said the opinion provides clear confirmation that the board is in compliance with the 2021 law change.
At least one change to the statute has been proposed ahead of the 2026 legislative session, which begins Feb. 2.
Senate Bill 1255 by Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, proposes transferring authority to recommend medical parole from the Department of Corrections director to the agency’s medical director. Jech organized an interim study on improving Oklahoma’s pardon and parole processes in October.
Chris Garinger, an Oklahoma City-based attorney representing Havens, said giving the Department of Corrections discretionary authority over medical parole decisions defeats the purpose of having a parole board.
“When a finding is made that somebody qualifies medically, it’s not DOC’s role to deny that person parole or approve that person’s parole,” he said in an October interview. “It’s their job to place them in front of the Parole Board to make that determination.”
Keaton Ross covers democracy and criminal justice for Oklahoma Watch. Contact him at (405) 831-9753 or Kross@Oklahomawatch. org. Follow him on Twitter at @_KeatonRoss.
