House committee advances wide slate of bills, including school‑zone safety fix and expanded OCC enforcement

The Oklahoma House committee on Thursday advanced a broad package of bills covering safety, law enforcement authority, court fees and consumer protections, moving most measures by unanimous or lopsided votes.

Representative Banning opened debate on House Bill 29‑79, which he called “the Tallinn Bayne Act,” saying his district had experienced a tragedy and that the bill would correct 14 locations where a 65‑mph four‑lane highway transitions within about 150 yards of a school zone. “This fixes that,” Banning said. After a brief question from Representative Rosencrant — who asked how many highways would be affected — the committee reported the bill do pass (vote reported as 10‑0).

Another bill aimed at front‑line customer interactions, House Bill 29‑80, would allow Department of Motor Vehicles staff to accept physical proof of insurance instead of relying on emailed documentation that may already have been canceled after a customer leaves the office. The presenter said the change is intended to stop people from using temporary/email proofs to create repeated work for DMV staff; the committee reported the bill do pass (vote reported as 10‑0).

Several public‑safety and criminal‑justice measures advanced. Representative George presented House Bill 32‑62, a request from Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommy Johnson, to raise warrant fees from $50 to up to $150; George said the $50 fee had not changed since 2006 and costs have risen. Lawmakers questioned whether counties or consumers would bear the cost; George said judges often waive fees in many cases and argued the bill was not intended to shift inappropriate costs to victims. The committee reported the bill do pass in a roll call tally that was announced as 10‑3.

On enforcement and jurisdiction, Representative Grego presented a request from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to give OCC enforcement officers authority to arrest drivers at ports of entry when they encounter outstanding warrants, rather than waiting for sheriff or highway‑patrol response. Grego said many OCC officers are police‑certified retirees and that the authority would remain geographically limited: “Their jurisdiction is 25 miles circle around that port of entry or 7 miles around the way station,” he said. The sponsor and questioners debated training and whether Department of Public Safety would oppose the change; sponsors said the OCC would not receive new funding with this bill and framed the change as a way to free up troopers for other duties. The committee reported this request bill do pass (vote reported as 11‑2 or 11‑1 in the recorded exchange; transcript reported as 11 to 1 in statements regarding a reported vote earlier in the sequence). (See Vote details below.)

Other measures passed largely without extended debate, including bills to:

• Prohibit those with a conviction for pedophilia from adopting (HB 29‑36, reported 11‑0).

• Permit otherwise‑qualified persons to carry firearms on boats after an omission in earlier legislation was corrected (HB 29‑37, reported 11‑0).

• Prohibit fire departments from employing people required to register as certain offenders, aligning fire department hiring law with schools and law enforcement (HB 3,082, reported 12‑0).

• Classify domestic‑violence strangulation as a higher‑level offense (HB 32‑64, reported 13‑0) and strengthen prosecution in domestic‑violence cases (HB 43‑42, reported 14‑0).

• Create new vessel certificate‑of‑title procedures (HB 42‑72, reported 13‑0) and modernize vehicle identification and inspection procedures with an adopted amendment (HB 31‑48 as amended, reported 13‑0).

• Provide a five‑day cooling‑off period for certain door‑to‑door home repair contracts (HB 37‑90, reported 13‑0) and add municipal officials to the online‑harassment statute (HB 3,678, reported 13‑0).

Committee members used a mix of unanimous‑consent adoptions and recorded votes; several request bills came from local law enforcement, the Attorney General and the Corporation Commission. The committee laid over HB 32‑99 for later consideration and adjourned.

Votes at a glance (as announced in committee): HB 29‑79 (do pass 10‑0); HB 29‑80 (do pass 10‑0); HB 29‑36 (do pass 11‑0); HB 29‑37 (do pass 11‑0); HB 3,082 (do pass 12‑0); HB 32‑62 (do pass 10‑3); HB 32‑64 (do pass 13‑0); HB 32‑66 (do pass 13‑0); HB 32‑68 (do pass 13‑0); HB 32‑69 (do pass 13‑0); HB 3,278 (do pass 13‑0); HB 3,678 (do pass 13‑0); HB 42‑72 (do pass 13‑0); HB 31‑48 as amended (do pass 13‑0); HB 37‑90 (do pass 13‑0); HB 43‑24 (do pass 14‑0); HB 43‑39/43‑41/43‑42 (do pass 14‑0/14‑0/14‑0); HB 39‑03 (do pass 13‑0). If a recorded roll call was not read aloud, the committee reported the outcome verbally in the transcript; counts above reflect the numbers announced on the record.

What comes next: Bills reported do pass from committee move to subsequent House floor consideration and any further scheduling will appear on the chamber calendar. The committee chair laid over HB 32‑99 for a later meeting before adjourning.