HB 1995: Crimes and punishments; definitions of sex crimes; designating school resource officers as employees of a school system; emergency. - Oklahoma

Floor (House) → Floor (Senate) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended during its Senate floor review to add a new definition for 'employee of an institution of higher education' and to clarify the scope of authority over victims in certain custody situations. These changes expand protections by including volunteers, contractors, and business employees who exercise institutional authority over students, and by explicitly covering employees of contractors and subcontractors in abuse-of-authority scenarios.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include a broader range of individuals who may be held criminally liable for sexual offenses against victims under their institutional authority, including volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors.

DEFINITION

Added a new definition for 'employee of an institution of higher education' to include faculty, adjunct faculty, instructors, volunteers, and employees of businesses that contract with the institution who exercise institutional authority over the victim.

Clarified that 'employee of an institution of higher education' does not include an enrolled student who is not more than three years older than the concurrently enrolled student and who is employed or volunteering for the institution.

Modified the definition of 'employee of a school system' to clarify that it includes employed and contracted school resource officers and security guards.

REQUIREMENT

Added 'subcontractor' to the list of individuals who may be held criminally liable when engaging in sexual intercourse with a victim under the legal custody or supervision of a state, federal, county, municipal, or political subdivision entity.

House Committee Substitute → Floor (House) · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates Oklahoma's sex crime definitions and adds protections for specific vulnerable populations. The main changes clarify definitions of rape and expand protections for students, foster care recipients, and school employees. These amendments strengthen legal protections for minors and those in positions of trust.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of protected individuals to include students in higher education, foster care recipients, and clarifies who qualifies as a school employee for legal purposes.

DEFINITION

Updated definition of rape to include specific circumstances involving power dynamics and authority relationships

Clarified that school resource officers and security guards are considered school employees for legal purposes

Updated definition of higher education employees to include those with institutional authority over students

ELIGIBILITY

Added protection for students under 20 who are school employees interacting with students under 16

Added protection for foster parents interacting with children under 19 in legal custody

Added protection for secondary school students concurrently enrolled in higher education interacting with higher education employees

Enrolled (final version) → House Committee Substitute · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill converts the House Committee Substitute version of HB 1995 into the Enrolled (final) version, primarily removing committee markup formatting and page number headers while preserving the substantive text of the criminal law amendments. The core policy content regarding rape definitions and child protection offenses remains unchanged.

Scope change

No substantive scope change; the bill maintains the same criminal law amendments to 21 O.S. 2021 Sections 1111 and 1123 regarding sex crimes and school resource officer employment status.

TECHNICAL

Removed committee markup formatting including line numbers, page headers, and amendment tracking symbols that were present in the House Committee Substitute version.

Removed the 'Enrolled House Bill' designation and replaced with standard 'An Act' format used in the final enrolled version.

Reorganized the bill structure from committee substitute format to final enrolled format, though all substantive legislative text remains identical.

Engrossed → Enrolled (final version) · 2 edits · May 7, 2025

MINOR

The bill was finalized from its engrossed version to enrolled version with minor formatting changes and a correction to the Senate sponsor's name. The substantive policy content of the bill remains unchanged, including definitions of rape and child sexual abuse offenses.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting changes including page number adjustments and header updates from 'ENGROSSED' to 'ENROLLED'.

Senate sponsor name changed from 'Hamilton' to 'Hamilton and Pederson' in the enrolled version.

Introduced → Engrossed · 4 edits · Apr 30, 2025

MODERATE

This bill amends Oklahoma's rape and child sexual exploitation statutes to expand protections and clarify definitions. The changes add security guards to the list of school personnel covered in child protection provisions, update the definition of higher education employees to include contractors, and modify child exploitation offenses to include viewing obscene materials deemed harmful to minors.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of protected individuals in child sexual exploitation cases by adding security guards to school personnel definitions and broadens the definition of higher education employees to include contractors who exercise institutional authority.

DEFINITION

Added 'security guards' to the list of school personnel included in child protection provisions

Updated definition of higher education employees to include contractors who may exercise institutional authority over students

REQUIREMENT

Modified child exploitation offenses to include viewing obscene materials, child sexual abuse material, or materials deemed harmful to minors

TECHNICAL

Changed document header from 'AS INTRODUCED' to 'ENGROSSED' indicating legislative progress

Crimes and punishments; definitions of sex crimes; designating school resource officers as employees of a school system; emergency.

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