Corri Williams completed probation for burglary five years ago, but the punishment didn’t seem to end there.
Everything from finding a steady job to a place to live proved difficult after the conviction, said Williams, who eventually found a job as a volunteer coordinator at the Opportunities Industrialization Center of Oklahoma County. She said prospective employers were impressed with her credentials, including a master’s degree in criminal justice administration, but withdrew their offer after running a background check.
“Even though you’re not getting in any trouble, because the charge is still there, they think you’re a liability,” Williams said. “It’s like ‘Oh, how do we know you’re not going to go back?’ And it’s been nine years for me.”
Williams said she’s hopeful the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board will recommend her for a pardon later this year. From there, she could benefit from a new state law that aims to make expungement more accessible for hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans.
Senate Bill 2030, which passed the Legislature with little opposition and was signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt earlier this month, directs the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to launch a free online portal for expungement requests by November 1. By Nov. 1, 2027, the agency is supposed to have an automatic expungement system in place, with all eligible records being cleared by the end of 2029.
Clean slate eligible records include arrests with no conviction and pardoned offenses, as well as misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, provided the individual has not been charged with a new crime and at least five years have passed since the completion of the sentence. The arresting agency and the district attorney who prosecuted the crime will retain the right to object to expungement under the automated system.
Advocates said SB 2030 will help facilitate Oklahoma’s initial automatic expungement bill, commonly known as the Clean Slate Act, which lawmakers passed in 2022. The system was expected to be up and running by 2026, but technical issues delayed implementation.
Courtenie Jackson, an employment coordinator for the Oklahoma County Diversion Hub, knows firsthand the stigma of having a criminal record. She said she has been rejected from countless jobs, housing and volunteer opportunities because of two nonviolent felony convictions from the mid-2010s. She said she intends to apply for expungement once the OSBI launches its expungement request portal.
Jackson said automatic expungement will provide a boost to thousands of Oklahomans who are either underemployed or have dropped out of the workforce entirely. The Clean Slate Initiative, which advocated for SB 2030, estimates more than 300,000 Oklahomans will benefit once the automatic expungement system is fully operational.
“After 10 noes, you’re thinking there’s no chance you’re going to get a job,” Jackson said. “It’ll put people who are educated and overqualified back into positions that need to be filled.”
Williams said she is encouraging her clients, many of whom have clean slate eligible records, to read through the legislation and be prepared to submit an application via the online portal later this year.
“You’ve got to read the fine print inside of this bill, but I do believe it’s going to be a big change for Oklahoma,” she said. “Especially people who are in a career that are trying to advance and get their education. I think it will be great for them.”
Oklahoma lawmakers took up several other criminal justice reform bills in 2026, dealing with topics such as medical parole and earned credit eligibility. Here’s a look at some of the most consequential measures:
Earned Credit Calculation
State prisoners with good behavior will soon gain speedier access to programs, job opportunities and early release.
Senate Bill 1213 modifies the Department of Corrections’ formula for calculating good time credits. Prisoners with a class 3 or 4 designation will begin earning credit at an accelerated rate upon receiving their judgment and sentence, rather than upon being processed into state custody. The bill takes effect Nov. 1.
The change could affect upwards of 1,000 prisoners on the state’s county jail backlog. It sometimes takes the state months to process sentenced prisoners, with longer wait times common in rural counties, Oklahoma Watch reported in August.
The Department of Corrections does not anticipate a significant reduction in population from the bill. However, well-behaved prisoners would be able to enter programs and take on certain jobs more quickly upon entering state custody.
Emily Barnes, founder of the Oklahoma prisoner advocacy group Hooked on Justice, said she expects the change will further motivate prisoners to stay out of trouble throughout their incarceration. If a prisoner gets a class X violation, such as possession of a weapon, their accumulated good time credit is wiped away.
“It’s going to help the ones that want it to work for them,” Barnes said. “It’s definitely an incentive for good behavior.”
Medical Parole Authority
State prisoners seeking medical parole could soon have an easier time receiving a hearing.
Senate Bill 1255, which takes effect Nov. 1, removes the requirement that the Department of Corrections director approve medical parole referrals, instead shifting that decision-making authority to the agency’s chief medical officer. The change comes following a significant decline in Oklahoma’s medical parole rate since 2021.
In October, the Pardon and Parole Board requested an attorney general’s opinion on its authority to bypass the Department of Corrections and place inmates on its medical parole docket, noting that the agency had faced pressure to adopt an expansive view of the medical parole statute. The Attorney General ruled in December that such action would be unlawful.
Failure to Pay Arrests
Criminal justice reform advocates have long scrutinized Oklahoma’s court fines and fees collection system, in which some counties rely on private debt collectors and failure-to-pay arrest warrants.
House Bill 3321 aims to examine the scope of the issue. The bill creates a committee tasked with submitting an annual report with the following county-level information:
The first report is due on Dec. 31. Beginning in 2027, reports will be due on Nov. 15.
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This story was originally published by Oklahoma Watch and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
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