State prisoners appearing before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board in 2025 faced steeper odds of release when the full five-member board was not present.

In April, when Chairman Kevin Buchanan was absent from the board’s monthly meeting, the board advanced just 8.8% of prisoners from the Stage One Parole docket to a more comprehensive Stage Two hearing. That’s about half of the 17.5% annual average for 2025, according to an Oklahoma Watch analysis of parole docket results.

Favorable vote rates were also lower than average on several October dockets, when member Susan Stava was absent.

Three yes votes are required to approve parole for nonviolent offenders and recommend the early release of violent offenders to the governor. That means a 3-1 vote is needed when four members are present, and a unanimous 3-0 vote is required in rare cases when two members are absent or have recused themselves.

That discrepancy drew criticism from lawmakers at an Oct. 22 interim study on parole board reform.

“There’s a tremendous disadvantage numerically by not having the full five board members,” said Rep. Danny Williams, R-Seminole.

Williams introduced legislation last year that proposed establishing a full-time Pardon and Parole Board, adding alternate positions and imposing penalties for board members who miss two or more meetings in a calendar year. House Bill 1968 passed the House but stalled in the Senate.

At the October hearing, Pardon and Parole Board Executive Director Kyle Counts acknowledged the disadvantage in odds that inmates appearing before a reduced board face, but said the agency’s hands are tied by the state constitution. When voters approved establishing the agency via a legislatively-referred ballot initiative in 1944, there was no mention of alternate members or mandatory attendance.

“Aside from absences, there are going to be proper recusals, which is going to reduce the number of participating board members,” Counts said. “Unless the constitution is amended or a statutory mechanism is crafted, that is always going to be an issue with certain inmates.”

In 2025, 28.5% of prisoners appearing before the Parole Board for parole and commutation hearings received a favorable vote, a slight decline from 29% in 2024. Yes votes were least likely on the Stage One Parole and Stage One Commutation dockets.

Counts said parole rates tend to go up when the board has continuity and turnover is low. After a tumultuous 2024, which saw former member Calvin Prince resign over sexual misconduct allegations, the board maintained its membership throughout 2025.

Boosting board member pay has been pitched as a legislative solution to bolster continuity. Senate Bill 1330 by Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, would nearly double pay for part-time members, whose $24,000 annual salary hasn’t been increased in more than two decades. Senate Bill 1347 by Jack Stewart, R-Yukon, proposes establishing a fulltime board with salaries ranging from $70,000 to $80,000.

“In terms of salary, I do think it would encourage retention of board members,” Counts said.