New Oklahoma Laws 2025

This year, the Oklahoma state legislature passed nearly five hundred new laws. Below is a description of some of the most important laws passed this year. Some of these are brand new statutes, others are amendments to existing statutes. Most of these laws will go into effect this November 1; others have already gone into effect.

Birth Certificates

HB 1688 – allows parents to apply for a “minor correction” of an error in a child’s birth certificate within one year of the child’s birth. “Minor correction” means “correcting an error in the spelling of a name or word of common knowledge, filling in an erroneous omission, deleting an erroneous addition, or something similar”

Civil Litigation

HB 2619 – Requires parties to civil lawsuits to disclose, on request of the other party, whether any commercial entity is funding the litigation. A party must disclose whether any foreign state or instrumentality of a foreign state is funding the litigation.

SB 453 – Allows civil cases worth less than $250,000 to be heard as “expedited actions” in which deadlines are shorter. This allows the case to move more quickly. I’ve written a full post on this new law here.

SB 0747 – Allows sheriffs to conduct auctions online.

Criminal Law

HB 1001 – requires any person convicted of accessory to first- or second-degree murder to serve at least 85% of their prison term before being eligible for parole.

SB 925 – Makes it a felony to file false documents relating to real property in the county clerk’s office, if the intent is to defraud or deprive someone else of their property. This is called “title theft.” If you’ve been a victim of title theft, you may file a notice of fraudulent conveyance in the county clerk’s office, and the county clerk must send the notice to the district attorney.

HB 2705 – Allows sexual assault victims to request DNA evidence in their cases. Requires law enforcement agencies to disclose DNA evidence to sexual assault victims on the victim’s request.

SB 657 – If a peace officer uses deadly force, and is prosecuted, and a court, at a pretrial hearing, finds that the deadly force is not justified, the officer may appeal the trial court’s ruling to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals within ten days of the ruling. While the appeal is pending, the trial court must stay all proceedings against the officer.

SB 981 – If a person is arrested for driving under the influence, and he has two or more prior felony convictions for driving under the influence, a judge may deny him bail.

HB 1222 – If a person is arrested for driving under the influence, and has one or more prior convictions for driving under the influence, a police officer may not release him unless a judge grants bail.

HB 1597 – Makes it a crime to approach or remain within twenty-five feet of a first responder on duty, if the person’s intent is to impede the first responder in performing his duties, to threaten the first responder with physical harm, or to harass the first responder. “First responder” means any peace officer, correctional or probation and parole officer, emergency medical technician, or emergency medical care provider.

HB 1886 – Anyone guilty of human trafficking may be punished by life in prison without parole. (Previously, the maximum sentence possible was life with parole.) Also, anyone guilty of human trafficking must pay for psychological counseling of the victim. This law also creates a human trafficking awareness and education program, and requires that victims of human trafficking be provided with resources for safe housing, and that the state inform victims of available financial assistance, social services, and that the state inform victims of their constitutional rights.

HB 1592 – Says that it constitutes “organized retail crime if”

·         Two or more persons, acting together, take property, or

·         The persons taking the property intend to sell the property, or

·         The persons taking the property use “tools of theft”, or

·         The persons taking the property attempt to exit through “non-public” exits, or

·         The persons taking the property remove, destroy, deactivate, or prevent the activation of any anti-shoplifting or inventory control device, or

·         A person receives or buys property knowing that the property was stolen from a “retail merchant”, or

·         The persons taking the property use a getaway driver, use another person’s car, or use a rented or stolen car, or

·         The persons taking the property use a fraudulent license plate, or the vehicle does not have a license plate

If ANY of the above elements exist, it is organized retail crime. Organized retail crime is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000. If the value of the property taken is at least $15,000, organized retail crime is punishable by up to 8 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000.

HB 1003 – Amends the statutory rape law, raising the age of consent from sixteen to eighteen. Also says that no person may be convicted of rape for sexual intercourse with a minor under sixteen, unless the defendant was more than four years older than the other person.

Education

SB 139 – For the 2025-2026 school year, every public school district “shall” prohibit students from using cell phones and personal electronic devices on the campus of a school when school is in session. For the 2026-2027 school year, and every school year after that, a public school district “may” prohibit students from using cell phones and personal electronic devices on the campus of a school when school is in session.

SB 796 – Prohibits state universities in Oklahoma from using state funds to:

·         Support diversity, equity, and inclusion

·         Require students to participate in activities that grant preferences based on race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin

·         Require any person to agree to any loyalty oath that favors any person’s on race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin

·         Require any person to agree with any political, philosophical, religious, or other ideological viewpoint

·         Give any employee preferential treatment because the employee provides a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement

·         Require any person to disclose his or her pronouns

SB 942 – Prohibits discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or marital status in public schools and state universities. Requires state department of education to monitor antisemitism in public schools Requires State Regents for Higher Education to monitor antisemitism in state universities. Requires schools and colleges to report incidents of antisemitism to state authorities. Adopts the definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust and Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The text of definition is not in the law, but the definition on the IHRA website reads, ““Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

SB 364 – Prohibits school district personnel from using corporal punishment on any student identified with a “disability” under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act.

SB 553 – Prohibits the Department of Education from certifying any teacher who has been convicted of failing to report child abuse or neglect. Requires every school employee to annually sign a statement that he or she is responsible for reporting child abuse or neglect.

HB 2798 – Any superintendent or principal, or anyone else in a supervisory capacity in a public or private school who does not promptly report child abuse or neglect, or who interferes with reporting of child abuse or neglect, shall be guilty of a felony and punished by two to ten years in prison, and/or a fine of up to $20,000. The school superintendent must also perform a term of community service.

Elections

SB 814 – allows members of the U.S. Armed Forces, Merchant Marine, Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps, or National Guard or state militia, to request an emergency absentee ballot. If one of these voters requests an emergency absentee ballot, the county election board must give him the ballot, and the voter must turn in the ballot before 7:00 pm on Election Day.

SB 1086 – Allows the secretary of the state election board to cancel the voter registration of any voter who is not a citizen of the United States. The secretary may cross-check lists of registered voters with other government agencies’ lists of citizens. If the secretary determines that a voter is not a citizen, the secretary must mail notice to the voter. The voter then has thirty days to present proof of citizenship to the county election board. If the voter does not present proof of citizenship within thirty days, the election board must cancel the registration, and the state must report the voter to state and federal prosecutors. The state election board must also make a list of registered voters available to Oklahoma residents who are U.S. citizens, and to other authorized persons.

Family Law

HB 2081 – Allows courts to take additional steps to prevent children from being abducted. For more information on this law, read my post here.

HB 2392 – Creates a rebuttable presumption that a parent is unfit to have custody or guardianship of a child if the parent has been convicted of a crime listed in the Oklahoma Child Abuse Reporting and Prevention Act.

HB 2647 – If a sibling, grandparent, aunt, or uncle adopts a child, the court does not need to require a home study of the prospective adoptive parent’s home.

Healthcare

SB 1019 – An insurer may not deny coverage for anesthesia time. Defines “anesthesia time” as the time beginning when an anesthesia practitioner begins to prepare the patient to receive anesthesia, and continues until the time when the anesthesia practitioner is not longer providing anesthesia services.

Medical Marijuana

SB 1066 – Specified that a physician may not make a marijuana recommendation to a patient unless the physician is registered with the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA). Requires physicians to complete medical education requirements related to medical marijuana in order to be registered with OMMA.

Open Records

HB 2163 – If you request records from a public body, and the public body denies your request, you may seek assistance from the “Public Access Counselor Unit” of the Attorney General’s office. The Public Access Counselor must then send the request to the public body within seven business days. The public body must then respond to the Public Access Counselor within seven days. The Attorney General must then review the request and response, and advise the public body if any additional response is needed. If the Attorney General advises that no additional response is needed, the person who made the original request may file suit.

Pandemic Preparedness

SB 672 – says that during a pandemic, the governor may not close any business unless the governor has “documented scientific evidence” that the nature of the particular business actually contributed to the direct spreading of disease. Before the governor orders a business closed during a pandemic, the governor must give notice and a hearing to the business.

Pornography

HB1364 – makes it a crime to disseminate an artificially generated sexual depiction of another person, including by artificial intelligence.

HB 1217 – Makes it as misdemeanor to engage in a performance containing obscene material in any place where the general public may freely access without payment, if minors will be exposed to the performance.

Probate Procedure

SB 200 – If a final order in a probate case orders distribution of money to a minor, and on one becomes the minor’s guardian within 90 days, the estate’s personal representative may deposit the money in a bank, and specify a time when the bank must release the money to the minor’s guardian, or state that the bank must release the money to the minor on the minor’s eighteenth birthday.

Religious Freedom

SB 658 – Prohibits the Department of Human Services (DHS) from discriminating against prospective adoptive or foster parents based on the parents’ religious or moral beliefs about sexual orientation or gender identity.

Traffic

HB 2263 – Prohibits using a handheld cell phone in a school zone or road construction zone while a vehicle is in motion. Doing so is a misdemeanor and is punishable by a $100 fine.