For virtually every sentence except for life without parole, convicted men and women have the opportunity for early release from prison through parole or a suspended sentence. However, there are certain crimes which Oklahoma deems so egregious that the state mandates a minimum amount of time served before an inmate even becomes eligible for parole. These are typically violent crimes and sex crimes, and they are known as "85 Percent Crimes" after the percentage of the sentence a person must serve before obtaining parole eligibility. 

The felonies that require a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence to be served are listed in 21 O.S. § 13.1:

  • First degree murder 
  • Second degree murder 
  • First degree manslaughter
  • Poisoning with intent to kill
  • Shooting with intent to kill, use of a vehicle to facilitate use of a firearm, crossbow or other weapon, assault, battery, or assault and battery with a deadly weapon or by other means likely to produce death or great bodily harm
  • Assault with intent to kill 
  • Conjoint robbery 
  • Robbery with a dangerous weapon 
  • First degree robbery 
  • First degree rape
  • First degree arson 
  • First degree burglary
  • Bombing 
  • Child abuse, child sexual abuse, or enabling child abuse or sexual abuse;
  • Forcible sodomy 
  • Child pornography or aggravated child pornography 
  • Child prostitution 
  • Lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child under 16
  • Abuse of a vulnerable adult who is a resident of a nursing facility
  • Aggravated drug trafficking 
  • Aggravated assault and battery upon any person defending another person from assault and battery
  • Human trafficking 

As an example of how an 85 percent crime might work, let us use first degree robbery as an example. First degree robbery is punishable by a minimum of 10 years in prison, so let's assume a defendant is sentenced to 15 years for his or her conviction. The inmate would have to serve 85 percent--or nearly 13 years--of that 15-year sentence. For inmates sentenced to life in prison, the life sentence is calculated at 45 years for parole purposes. That means a person with a life sentence for an 85 percent crime would have to serve more than 38 years before accumulating credits toward parole.

Under existing state law, anyone convicted of one of these crimes must serve 85 percent of the sentence before achieving parole eligibility, and he or she is not allowed to accumulate "earned credits or any other type of credits which have the effect of reducing the length of the sentence to less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence imposed." Because the person cannot even earn credit until 85 percent of the sentence is completed, most "85 Percenters" actually serve 90-93 percent of the sentence before qualifying for parole.

Last year, Governor Mary Fallin urged the state Board of Corrections to modify existing policies so that those serving sentences for 85 percent crimes could earn credits during their mandatory sentence, and actually obtain parole eligibility at the end of the 85 percent. However, while the Pardon and Parole Board considered the change and has begun researching their legal ability to change the policies, no such change has been made.