The Community Sentencing Division within the Department of Corrections shall have the duty to:
1. Administer a statewide community sentencing system pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Community Sentencing Act and other provisions of law;
2. Establish goals and standards for the statewide community sentencing system and the local community sentencing systems;
3. Promulgate rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act for the implementation and operation of the Oklahoma Community Sentencing Act;
4. Provide technical assistance and administrative support to each local community sentencing system. The technical assistance shall include, but not be limited to, information on:
5. Coordinate and collaborate with other state agencies for services and technical assistance to each local community sentencing system;
6. Apply for and accept money and other assets to be utilized for support of a statewide community sentencing system and to allocate and disburse appropriated funds to local community sentencing systems through an appropriate funding method;
7. Review, analyze and fund local system plans within budgetary limitations;
8. Contract with local service providers and state agencies for services to the local system;
9. Identify and solicit other funding sources and resources to support the statewide community sentencing system;
10. Request post-audits of state funds;
11. Monitor and coordinate local systems;
12. Provide performance-based evaluations for all service providers of the statewide system;
13. Report annually by January 15 to the Legislature and Governor on the statewide system. The report shall provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Oklahoma Community Sentencing Act in terms of public safety, appropriate range of community punishments, cost-effectiveness, performance-based effectiveness in reducing recidivism, utilization by the judiciary, resource allocation, reduced state and local institutional receptions, if any, and statistical data, including, but not limited to, community sentencing participation by county, total number of qualifying and nonqualifying community sentences per month for each local community sentencing system, total number of community sentences ordered per month, program participation and the annual average cost per offender. A copy of the report shall also be submitted to the Oklahoma Statistical Analysis Center, a division of the Office of Criminal Justice Statistics of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which shall publish the annual report on the website of the Bureau; and
14. Disseminate information to local administrators and community sentencing systems concerning corrections issues including, but not limited to:
Added by Laws 1999, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 4, § 15, eff. July 1, 1999. Amended by Laws 2021, c. 214, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2021.