An inmate lays in a jail cell. (Photo by Darrin Klimek/Getty Images)
Oklahoma has a decision to make: Will we continue clinging to a pretrial system that punishes poverty and fails to deliver public safety? Or will we move toward a smarter, fairer, and actually effective alternative?
The evidence is mounting, and the verdict is clear: cash bail — the dollar amount a court determines you must pay to be released from jail before your trial — doesn’t work. It doesn’t improve court appearance rates, and it doesn’t make our communities safer. What it does is lock up thousands of legally innocent Oklahomans every year simply because they can’t afford to buy their freedom. Reform is long overdue.
A new study out of Tulsa County offers a case in point.
The Bail Project, a national nonprofit that provides free bail assistance and pretrial support to low-income people nationwide while advocating for a system based on safety rather than wealth, tracked more than 3,300 individuals booked into the county jail over the course of a year. They found that those who received non-financial support — reminders, transportation, and service referrals — still showed up to court. In fact, people whom The Bail Project supported showed up to every hearing nearly twice as often as those who paid bail out of pocket, and 33% higher than those using a bail bond agent. And it didn’t cost them a dime.
So why does Oklahoma continue relying on a system that fails to deliver safety, fairness or accountability?
One answer: the commercial bail industry. The industry collects billions each year, including millions from struggling Oklahoma families. These nonrefundable fees — often 10% of the total bail amount — are gone for good, even if the court drops the charges or the person is found not guilty. It’s a predatory system that lines the pockets of a few while destabilizing many.
But it’s not just about economics, it’s about recognizing a broken and harmful system, and then fixing it. Oklahoma has one of the highest incarceration rates nationally and globally. Jailing people before trial for weeks or months — often for low-level, nonviolent offenses and sometimes unaffordable bail — has devastating consequences. In the Tulsa County study, nearly a third remained in jail until their case concluded, spending an average of 105 days behind bars. That’s more than three months of lost jobs, housing instability, and family separation, all before a court ruling. Despite a presumption of innocence, people who remain in jail are more likely to plead guilty, just to go home.
Consider the story of Nicole Rodgers, a 31-year-old Black medical social worker in Tulsa. She was wrongfully accused of armed robbery based on mistaken identity and faced a $50,000 bail she couldn’t afford. As a single mother of three, she risked losing her job, home and custody of her children. With help from The Bail Project and a public defender, the judge reduced her bail, she was released, and her case was later dismissed — but not before experiencing deep trauma. To this day, Nicole lives with anxiety and fear of rearrest.
In counties across Oklahoma, pretrial detention decisions are made based not on risk but on resources, and depending on your county, two people charged with the same offense can have vastly different outcomes. Nonviolent felony bond amounts ranged from $5,000 in Rogers County to $10,000 in Logan, Ellis, and Pushmataha counties.
Meanwhile, the public foots the bill. Tulsa County’s incarceration rate has ballooned nearly 200% since 1970, costing taxpayers more than $30 million a year.
There is a better way. Pretrial support services, like court reminders, transportation help, and voluntary referrals, are just as, if not more, effective than financial bail at ensuring return to court. These approaches cost less, preserve due process, and avoid the devastating ripple effects of unnecessary jail stays.
Oklahoma could consider limiting or eliminating cash bail for low-level and nonviolent offenses, investing in non-financial pretrial support systems, and using pretrial detention only when absolutely necessary, based on risk, not wealth. We can’t claim to uphold the presumption of innocence while routinely jailing people for being poor. We can’t talk about public safety while using a system that destabilizes families and communities.
The lesson from Tulsa is simple but urgent: the bail system is not doing its job.
Cash bail doesn’t keep Oklahoma safe — it just keeps people down.
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