Mass commutation expected Monday

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – More than 400 Oklahoma inmates are expected to walk out of prison on Monday in what state officials say is the largest single-day mass commutation in the nation’s history.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board is expected to approve the commutations on Friday and forward them to Gov. Kevin Stitt for his signature. Oklahoma voters approved a state question in 2016 that made simple drug possession and low-level property crimes misdemeanors instead of felonies. A bill approved earlier this year and signed by Stitt applied those sentences retroactively.

The agency’s executive director Steve Bickley says the mass release is the most on one day since former President Barack Obama commuted the drug sentences of 330 federal prisoners on his last day in office.