After spending 17 years living in a prison cell, John Standfill looked forward to having his own place after his 2022 release. He said he’s overcome drug addiction and is now going to college and working.
But Standfill still lives in transitional housing at City Care. He said he can’t afford a place of his own because of the high cost of living and the thousands in court fees and fines he still owes.
Standfill, 50, said he felt lost after his mother was murdered when he was 16.
He started getting into trouble with the law after a divorce and being separated from his daughter, during which he began making poor choices, he said.
Standfill has multiple convictions for drug-related crimes between 2005 and 2016. He told The Frontier he was stuck in a cycle. He would get in trouble, go to prison, get out, and start all over again. Standfill said he knew change would be difficult, but he never expected the financial barriers upon release.
“It’s impossible for someone to get out of prison and if they have a lot of court costs and fines, it’s impossible to survive, so they’re going right back into survival mode,” he said. “And it’s already hard enough for people to find jobs.”
Standfill said the staff at the Oklahoma Court Clerk’s office told him in 2014 that he owed $300,000. After he was released, he was told he owed approximately $30,000. Standfill calculated the court costs associated with his criminal cases. The bulk of his fines and fees came from a 2009 drug trafficking case, which totaled $26,835.50 based on Standfill’s calculations. The other three felony cases combined cost almost $4,000.
Standfill’s situation isn’t uncommon. Many prisoners and formerly incarcerated people are battling fines and fees daily.
But legislation making its way through the Oklahoma Legislature seeks to eliminate some of these fees. House Bill 1460 passed unanimously through the Oklahoma House of Representatives and is now under consideration in the Senate. Tammy West, the bill’s author, said in an emailed statement that the goal is to build a smarter and more sustainable justice system that prioritizes rehabilitation over endless punishment.
“This isn’t about letting people off the hook; instead, it’s about removing financial traps that serve no real purpose and make it harder for people to reintegrate into society. It’s a win for families, for public safety and for Oklahoma taxpayers,” West said.
The bill would do away with fees that generate little money for state agencies, but can add up for people in the criminal justice system. Fees targeted for elimination include electronic monitoring fees collected by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, which can cost people in the criminal justice system nearly $300 a month, according to numbers West provided, based on 2022 state data. The agency collected $200,000 of the $700,000 assessed successfully collected. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections uses the money for monitoring services and equipment, the agency said.
The bill would also do away with a $40 indigent defense application fee, which judges already frequently waive. This fee generated $26,976 in 2022.
The Department of Public Safety Impaired Driver Database fee costs defendants $15 and brought in $78,148 in 2022. The money goes toward building and maintaining a database for monitoring people charged with impaired driving.
In 2022, the Bureau of Narcotics Revolving Fund generated about $15,000 by charging people $5 for misdemeanor marijuana possession. The money goes toward printing materials or other items for public drug awareness; the agency said.
The bill would also eliminate the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation drug cleaning fee, which only generated $4.87 in 2022, according to West.
Since his release, Standfill has made strides toward paying off his court fines and fees. He said he pays $50 a month for the court fines and $10 a month for probation fees.
Standfill works as a data specialist at the OSU-OKC Social Innovation Center, helping teach job skills to people recovering from incarceration, past substance use and homelessness.
Gov. Kevin Stitt praised Standfill in his 2025 State of the State address. Stitt said Standfill paid his debt to society and is now helping others get a second chance.
“However, he reportedly owes nearly $30,000 in fines, fees and court costs. That’s simply unacceptable,” Stitt said. “It’s time to reform this system and get rid of what is essentially a debtor’s prison.”
Today he is working full time, in college full-time, and will graduate this May with an associate’s degree in enterprise development. He said HB 1460 would be a step toward eliminating one financial barrier.
“Hopefully, the state will lift some of these burdens off people, because it would give people a fighting chance to better themselves. With the way the system is set right now, it keeps people down, it keeps you trapped,” Standfill said.
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