HB 1679 Helps Inmates With Employment
Video Transcribed: New law provides post-release employment health from Oklahoma DOC. My name is James Wirth I am a lawyer in Tulsa, and it’s that time of year again, where we see a lot of new laws going into effect.
November 1st, 2021, a number of new laws are going into effect and this is talking specifically about House Bill 1679, referred to as the Sarah Stitt Act and it has two parts. I have another video talking about the first part, which helps inmates get IDs that they can use once they’re released to help with employment and then the next part specifically deals with helping with employment.
So, that’s for the purpose of assisting an inmate in obtaining post-release employment and then it has a number of requirements put on the Department of Corrections to help.
Those things that they help with prior to release is with getting a copy of vocational training records, providing a copy of work records to the inmates, certified copy of the birth certificate of the inmate if obtainable, social security card or replacement social security card of the inmate if attainable, a resume regarding any trades learned by the inmate and proficiency at the trades, and documentation the inmate has completed a practice job interview.
In addition, the department is required to notify the inmate, if based on this training they’ve received while in custody, they’re eligible to apply for a state license.
So these are all additional burdens put on DOC, to help with inmates getting employment after they are released, but they have the necessary documentation to obtain employment, to get their license and ID, a social security card, and documentation of what they’ve learned while they’ve been in custody; resume, interview.
So the purpose of all of it is to help them get employment once they’re released. Hopefully, they’ll be productive members of society and will decrease the chances that they recommit offenses, overall lowering the recidivism rate.
If you’ve got questions about new Oklahoma laws going into effect on November 1st of this year, or anything else related to a legal matter, you’re going to want to talk to an attorney specifically, confidentially about that. To get that scheduled with somebody at my office, you can go online to makelaweasy.com.
