We have one more week for oversight committees to meet in the House, and then we’ll begin hearing many more bills on the House floor.
This year, the House has gone to a two-step process for all policy bills. This system already was in place for appropriations bills. The hope expressed by House leaders was that this would give more of an opportunity for any questions about policy bills to thoroughly be asked and answered in committee and for any changes to be made by the amendment process before bills come to the House floor.
I’ve learned a lot through the committee process. One of my bills passed unanimously in the House Education Oversight Committee and has been added to the House floor calendar.
House Bill 1995 would add school resource officers and security guards to the list of school employees who would be criminally charged for any sexual contact with students. Security guards were added to the bill after discussions with the District Attorneys Council. These are positions that are contracted and sometimes paid for with federal grant money, and therefore were not considered employees of the district, allowing them to fall outside of the statute for criminal liability.
Sometimes SROs or security guards are in their early 20s and interacting with teens who are close to their age. But it is still inappropriate for people in these contracted positions to have a sexual relationship with those under their supervision. This bill will better protect our kids.
Two of my bills passed unanimously in the House Judicial and Public Safety Oversight Committee.
House Bill 1990 is a request bill from the courts stemming from a case before the Court of Criminal Appeals that had been reversed and dismissed at a district court level regarding an imitation firearm. This would mirror the imitation firearm statute to possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and armed robbery with a firearm.
House Bill 1996 is a request by the Oklahoma Sheriffs Association relating to inmate commissary accounts. Inmates who leave the county jail after discharge are presented either with a check or debit card for the amount they had in their commissary account. If they do not cash the check or use the card, the money stays in the account, leaving the sheriff to try to notify the inmate. If the amount is as little as five or six dollars, it costs more to serve certified mail. What I’m asking in this measure is to waive the certified mail requirement but still require newspaper publication and posting if the amount is less than $50.
I’m eager to have my bills heard on the House floor. Then I’ll begin working with my Senate authors to get them through that chamber.
Remember, if I can help you in my capacity as your representative, please do not hesitate to contact me at the Capitol. My office phone is (405) 557-7375, and my email is tim.turner@okhouse. gov.
Rep. Tim Turner, a Republican, represents House District 15 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Haskell County and portions of McIntosh, Muskogee, Le Flore and Pittsburg counties.
