× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform on Friday released a legislative agenda it said could reduce the state’s prison population by 5 percent during the next decade.

“This may be the year that reform really gets going at the state Capitol,” said former House Speaker Kris Steele, chairman and executive director of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform.

The agenda includes making State Question 780 retroactive.

The measure was approved by voters in November 2016. It downgraded several nonviolent offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and reduced the associated sentences. The new sentences only apply to those charged after July 1, 2017.

Steele said some 1,100 people are still in prison for simple possession and could see immediate release if the measure were made retroactive.

Another 1,400 have a simple possession charge with other charges. Those sentences would be reduced, but the offenders would not be released immediately, Steele said.

The agenda includes legislation that would prevent a person convicted of failure to protect from child abuse from getting a longer sentence than the person who did the abuse, Steele said.