Helping prisoners stay out of prison

The House overwhelmingly passed House Bill 1679, also known as the “Sarah Stitt Act.” The legislation would help inmates re-enter the workforce after leaving incarceration.

Reps. Marilyn Stark, R-Bethany, and Brian Hill, R-Mustang, authored House Bill 1679, which would require the Oklahoma Dept. of Corrections (DOC) to identify inmates leaving custody within nine months of release and begin gathering certain documentation to help them find post-incarceration employment.

The documentation would include a four-year state ID, vocational training records, work records, birth certificates, Social Security cards and resumes.

The authors decided to name HB1679 after Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt in recognition of her work to help people leaving incarceration find employment and enter the workforce after the historic commutations in Nov. 2019.

Mandatory rest breaks for prison workers

A bill that would allow rest breaks for Department of Corrections’ employees passed unanimously in the House.

House Bill 1667, by Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, would direct the Department of Corrections to provide employees one 15-minute uninterrupted rest break within the first eight hours of a 12-hour shift and one additional rest break of the same duration during the remainder of the shift.