Oklahoma tops states in incarceration rate

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – A study has found Oklahoma has the highest incarceration rate in the U.S.

The Tulsa World reports that the Prison Policy Initiative released its “States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2018” study last month. The nonprofit’s data figures account for state prisons, local jails, federal prisoners and other systems of confinement.

The report says Oklahoma’s incarceration rate is 1,079 per 100,000 people, unseating Louisiana at No. 1 in the country. The study also says Oklahoma incarcerates people at higher rates than all countries with a population of at least 500,000.

Chairman for Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, Kris Steele, expects the state’s reform efforts to slow the incarceration rate, not reduce it.

The Prison Policy Initiative’s website says it seeks to expose the “broader harms of mass criminalization.”