IT will be interesting to see what recommendations are made by a task force that's been working on criminal justice reform since July. One thing that seems evident is that Oklahoma's list of “85 percent” crimes won't be getting much shorter.

These crimes require offenders to serve 85 percent of their sentences before they can be considered for parole. The original list of crimes, which were the product of a 1997 bill called the Truth in Sentencing Act, related to violent offenders and numbered in the single digits.

Within months of signing that bill, then-Gov. Frank Keating endorsed an overhaul of the legislation, calling for anyone imprisoned for a felony to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. A new bill was signed in 1999. The list of 85 percent crimes now stands at 22.

And it may not contract by much, judging from a recent story by The Oklahoman's Nolan Clay. The president of the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association, Mike Fields, said he would oppose “any proposals that are contrary to Oklahoma's public safety interests.” Fields' colleague in Oklahoma County, David Prater, said any change to the 85 percent law is a nonstarter.