Governor Mary Fallin on Friday vetoed a bill mandating pardon and parole board hearings for inmates convicted of crimes requiring payment of 85 percent of a sentence.
House Bill 3159 earned almost unanimous support in both the House and the Senate during the 55th legislative session.
Speaker of the House and author of the bill Rep. Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, said during the session the bill was a result of the Department of Corrections changing policy to allow some criminals serving time for so-called “85 percent crimes" to be released without supervision.
“It’s a public safety issue to make sure that those folks --when they’re leaving – have supervision,” Hickman said on the House floor.
“Under the current policy, they don’t. This requires this hearing and then the pardon and parole board will decide if they need some supervision.”
In her veto message, Fallin said the legislation was not evidence-based and argued it would create an “enormous fiscal burden” for the state.
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