CONTACT: Brook Arbeitman - brook.arbeitman@oklahomacounty.org

District Attorney Releases First Quarter Accomplishments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --- March 31, 2023

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office is releasing accomplishments occurring in the first quarter of 2023. District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna took office on January 3, 2023, and between then and March 31, 2023, the following has occurred:

• The DA’s Office lost approximately 22 lawyers with varying degrees of experience during 2022. Since November 2022, the DA has brought the office back to full staffing.

• In January 2023, the DA’s Office had 260 pending homicide cases, some of which dated back to 2017. A homicide squad was established to focus on, and resolve, the outstanding homicide cases. Currently, all homicide cases have been assigned to an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) and the number of old homicide cases has been reduced by 30%. There are 198 outstanding homicide cases in Oklahoma County with new cases coming in weekly.

• The DA’s Office is partnering with the Court to review 42,000 outstanding misdemeanor warrants dating back to the 1970s. Where appropriate, the outstanding misdemeanor warrants are being withdrawn.

• Currently, Oklahoma County has eleven death penalty cases. The DA created a Death Penalty Review Committee to establish consistent policies and guidelines to aid in the determination of when the death penalty should be used.

• The DA’s Office is working with the administration of the Oklahoma County jail, when requested, to approve medical own recognitive (OR) bonds. If death of a detainee is imminent or the detainee has a chronic medical condition, the detainee will be released, as long as there is a release plan in place.

• The staff of the DA’s office has worked to reduce the number of days it took the office to file a charge. In January 2023, it was taking 60 days to file charges. The staff has reduced that number to 30 days with the ultimate goal to get charges filed within 14 days.

• The DA’s Office congratulates the 163 participants that have graduated from the various Oklahoma County Diversion Courts since January 2023.

###

Criminal charges are based on probable cause to believe a person has committed a crime. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.