Oklahoma County judge promises changes to bail system after concerns of constitutional violations

Oklahoma County Presiding Judge Sheila Stinson told state lawmakers she will issue orders to mandate reforms to bail hearings that keep many poor people in jail.

Stinson spoke during an interim study at the Oklahoma Capitol on Oct. 29, where attorneys, court staff and advocates urged the state to step in and fix the county’s court system to avoid costly lawsuits. 

People booked into the Oklahoma County jail can wait days for their first appearance, depending on when they are booked.

“If an inmate gets arrested the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, they won’t see a judge until Monday,” Stinson said. “We’re looking at alternatives for that.”

Stinson’s priorities include creating a way for attorneys to meet with defendants before bail hearings, holding hearings on weekends and holidays, and reducing long delays for proceedings. 

But Oklahoma County will need more funding to implement the reforms, the judge told lawmakers.

Across two weeks in October, at least 57 people were held at the Oklahoma County jail on nonviolent misdemeanor charges because they couldn’t afford $50 to $100 to bond out, according to Oklahoma County Chief Public Defender Brigitte Biffle, who spoke at the study. And nearly 85% of the jail’s population is being held before they have been convicted of a crime, Stinson said.

Courts have ruled that people charged with crimes have a right to individualized hearings, where a judge asks about how likely they are to show up to court, their financial circumstances and other factors that could affect their ability to post bail. But Oklahoma County bail hearings don’t meet these standards, The Frontier and KOSU previously reported. 

Tulsa and Canadian counties have faced lawsuits over similar practices.  

During the study, Biffle told lawmakers that attorneys have no way to meet with clients before their initial hearings, which occur via video call from the jail. Public defenders have their “hands tied,” Biffle said, arguing their case without knowing their client’s financial situation, community ties or other factors impacting their ability to pay bail or make court appearances. 

Judges instead rely heavily on a predetermined bond schedule, which sets standardized bail amounts for most criminal charges.

“What does this mean in reality? Well, if you have violent crimes and a lot of priors, and you have money, that means you can get out of jail,” Biffle said. “If you are poor or indigent and you don’t have money, you can have a non-violent crime and you stay in jail. This does not make the public safer.”

One of the judges overseeing bail hearings in Oklahoma County retired last month, and the other will retire in December. Biffle hopes the new judges will be “trained based on the law and what the arraignment process should look like,” ensuring that each defendant has an individualized hearing.

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In Tulsa County, a court-appointed lawyer is present at the jail during hearings. To meet bail hearing requirements set by a federal judge, Tulsa court officials also created daily bond dockets to ensure defendants see a judge within 24 to 48 hours of arrest, even on holidays and weekends. 

Officials from the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office and Public Defender’s Office previously asked lawmakers for additional funding. Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, agreed to help, authoring Senate Bill 1381 last year after he learned about the lawsuit in his district. Rader’s measure would have allocated state money to each office and set up a pilot program to ensure defendants received individualized bail hearings, but the bill stalled in the House. 

Madison King, an assistant district attorney in Oklahoma County, said her office needs another prosecutor to meet constitutional standards for bail hearings, and the county needs another public defender and a judge.

Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, who hosted the study along with Rader, became interested in pretrial detention following The Frontier and KOSU’s investigation into Oklahoma County’s underutilized pretrial release program. He was surprised to hear that defendants weren’t receiving due process in Oklahoma County court. 

Mann said he feels a sense of urgency to correct the systems before the county’s saddled with a federal lawsuit.

“I don’t believe that locking someone up just because they can’t afford to pay a bail bond is a good thing to do,” he said. “It violates the law.” 

Rader told The Frontier and KOSU he plans to introduce a similar measure next year. He hopes a pilot program in Oklahoma County could serve as an example for the rest of the state and mitigate the risk of costly lawsuits. Mann said he’s talking with Rader about potential legislation. In addition to an Oklahoma County pilot program, Mann wants to see a similar initiative in rural areas so the state can “see what works.” 

Stinson said she hopes “if and when” Oklahoma County is sued for its bail practices, the court will be able to point to improvements she plans to make in the coming months. The county handles nearly a quarter of all criminal, civil and juvenile cases filed in the state, she said.

King estimates it would cost about $1 million to hire additional staff to ensure timely and fair bail hearings. A fiscal impact for Rader’s SB 1381 placed that total closer to $2.4 million.

“The state needs to help – and must,” Rader said.