A practical path forward for criminal justice diversion in Oklahoma

Oklahoma has made important progress on criminal justice reform in recent years, building systems to divert and deflect people from jails and prisons who would be better served with mental health and substance use treatment in their communities.

Voters set a significant part of this work in motion when they passed State Questions 780 and 781, ballot initiatives that promoted treatment and rehabilitation over incarceration. In passing these initiatives, Oklahomans recognized that it’s far more effective and far less costly to treat people for behavioral health conditions in their communities instead of in jails and prisons.

Related: Bringing criminal justice diversion services to scale in Oklahoma

Today, savings from these ballot initiatives have begun to reach counties and be reinvested locally. But these programs and policies have yet to reach their full potential. Meanwhile, criminal justice leaders have consistently argued that current investments are insufficient and disputed the effectiveness of past reforms.

To move past these disagreements, Healthy Minds looked for areas of common ground among stakeholders around diverting people with mental health and substance use needs away from the criminal justice system.

The recommendations we present in this report are the result of interviews and surveys we conducted with 76 justice system stakeholders in 2025, including:

• district attorneys and their staff
• county sheriffs
• jail administrators
• legislators
• judges
• providers of diversion services and supports
• community advocates

Collectively, the recommendations outline a realistic path forward for diversion in Oklahoma, rooted in areas of agreement among stakeholders — and will benefit the many Oklahomans who interact with the justice system.