Several bills met with House Judiciary Committee approval

OKLAHOMA CITY – The third hearing for the 56th Legislature’s House Judiciary – Criminal Justice & Corrections Committee took place last Wednesday.

The committee, chaired by Rep. Scott Biggs, passed eight pieces of legislation that are now eligible to be heard on the House Floor.

House Bill 1122, authored by Rep. Scott Biggs, is legislation that would require that all drug crimes except Marijuana be handled in district court, or municipal courts of record.  The effort is a response to the DUI bill last session that showed that some offenders weren’t getting the help they need. This bill does the same thing as the DUI bill but for illegal narcotics. The bill passed committee by a vote of 12 to 0.

House Bill 1123, authored by Rep. Scott Biggs, is legislation that would create a new law relating to the crime of trespassing on property containing a critical infrastructure facility.  The bill passed committee by a vote of 11 to 0.

House Bill 1335, authored by Rep. Chuck Hoskin, is legislation that seeks to modify the definition of “court” as used in determining competency to mean the court sitting in the county where the person is found to be insane.  The bill passed committee by a vote of 11 to 0.

House Bill 1341, authored by Rep. Rande Worthen, is legislation looks to correct a mistake the Supreme Court made when, this past fall when they issued a court order limiting internet access for documents that are normally open and available for the public to see was issued. The bill passed committee by a vote of 11 to 1.

House Bill 1406, authored by Rep. Mickey Dollens, is legislation that seeks to strengthen protection of elderly victims by lengthening the sentence for crimes committed against elderly individuals. The bill passed committee by a vote of 8 to 2.

House Bill 1605, authored by Rep. John Enns, is legislation that would allow the court to order a person convicted of driving under the influence to abstain from alcohol for a period of time determined by the court. The order would be sent to the Department of Public Safety and the person’s driver license would have a notation of the order to abstain affixed. The measure creates a crime to knowingly sell, deliver or furnish alcoholic beverages to a person who has been ordered by a court to abstain or refrain from consuming alcohol and for a person subject to an order to purchase alcoholic beverages.  The bill passed committee by a vote of 9 to 0.

House Bill 1680, authored by Speaker Pro Tempore Harold Wright, is legislation that would require the Department of Corrections to give notice of the date of release or date of anticipated release of an inmate to the designated Oklahoma service provider within 60 days but not less than 7 days prior to the release of the inmate. The bill passed committee by a vote of 9 to 1.

House Bill 2232, authored by Rep. Glen Mulready, is legislation that would establish a time-period that audio or video recordings from body-cameras of county law enforcement officers must be kept. The measure directs that recordings that depict anything other than an officer-involved shooting are to be kept a minimum of 30 days and no more than 90 days. The bill passed committee by a vote of 12 to 0.

The committee is scheduled to meet again Wednesday, Feb. 29 to hear House Bill 1127, House Bill 1324, House Bill 2290, House Bill 2281, House Bill 1873 and House Bill 1472.

“Vice Chairman Worthen, members of this committee and the House as a whole have made the way we protect and treat victims of crimes a top priority” said Biggs, R-Chickasha. “The work this week in committee reiterates that.”