Oregon bill would let more people qualify to end post-DOC supervision early
olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Analysis/SB581
“It’s really an opportunity for the correction system to provide a carrot instead of just a stick for accountability,” said Shannon Wight, deputy director of the Portland-based Partnership for Safety and Justice.
To qualify for earned discharge, people need to have paid any restitution or fines or have a payment plan in place, completed treatment programs and have followed rules of their supervision program. Anyone who commits another crime while on supervision isn’t eligible.
Rep. Jason Kropf, a Bend Democrat who previously worked as a public defender and prosecutor, said during debate on the House floor on Wednesday that the criminal justice system should encourage people who have committed crimes to do better.
“When we have a subset of people who are on supervision who take these corrective actions, who take themselves from a place where they found themselves in the criminal justice system and have moved away from committing crimes and moved away from addiction and moved away from causing future harm, we have to acknowledge that,” Kropf said. “We have to support that.”
