Oklahoma corrections officials are supervising fewer people on probation and parole after a change in the law that lets district attorneys keep track of more former prisoners.
Since 2006, the number of people supervised by the Corrections Department has fallen from 30,000 to 20,000. The state's 27 district attorneys supervise 10,000 inmates who had been charged with felonies and 27,000 with misdemeanors, according to The Oklahoman newspaper (http://bit.ly/VhdXYy).
Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie says a 2005 law let felony probation cases be transferred to district attorneys. The Oklahoma District Attorneys Council says probation supervision fees generated $14 million in the last fiscal year.
Like private probation supervision companies, district attorneys charge probationers $40 per month in supervision fees. Corrections Department costs worked out to nearly $100 per month.