OKLAHOMA CITY — A bill to change the make up of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board for the first time in decades, if ever, advanced at the state capitol on Wednesday.
House Bill 3633 passed with bipartisan support out of the House Corrections and Criminal Justice Committee. It adds two alternates to the board who can step in to vote if one or two members of the board is absent or recuses themselves from hearing a case.
The bill comes after last year’s pardon and parole board hearing for death row inmate Richard Glossip had only four total voting members, but Glossip, his attorneys, and his supporters, which include multiple state lawmakers, said the Oklahoma State Constitution requires someone to have five votes, even if that vote is to deny clemency.
“It’s much tougher to get three votes out of four than it is five,” said Committee Chairman State Representative JJ Humphrey (R-Lane) who has been among the lawmakers demanding Glossip gets a new trial and has questioned if Glossip’s previous convictions rise to the level of the death penalty.