SB 936 Oklahoma Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Tobacco and vapor products; modifying applicability of fines under the Prevention of Youth Access to Tobacco Act. Effective date.

SB 936 modifies Oklahoma's Prevention of Youth Access to Tobacco Act by making store owners personally liable for fines when employees sell tobacco or vapor products to minors. Previously, only employees faced penalties; now, store owners face fines up to $1,500 for repeat violations (third or fourth offenses), alongside employee fines, and may lose their tobacco sales license or vapor product sales permit for up to 60 days. The bill clarifies that store owners are responsible for employee violations at their location, requires proof of age verification as a defense, and mandates license suspensions for nonpayment of fines. It directly affects retail stores selling tobacco, nicotine, or vapor products and their employees.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Feb 26, 2025

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Floor (Senate) · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill was amended during Senate floor consideration to add new provisions holding both employees and store owners jointly liable for tobacco sales to minors, and to clarify that employee violations count as owner violations for license suspension purposes. The original version focused primarily on individual employee liability, while the floor version expands enforcement to ensure store owners share responsibility for violations occurring at their establishments.

Scope change

Expanded from primarily targeting individual employees to holding both employees and store owners jointly liable for tobacco sales violations to minors

ENFORCEMENT

Added new subsection D requiring that when an employee sells tobacco to a minor, both the employee and store owner are subject to fines, and employee violations are counted as owner violations for license suspension purposes

Modified penalty structure to clarify that third and fourth offenses impose separate fines on both employees and store owners, with store license suspension periods of 30 days for third offenses and 60 days for fourth or subsequent offenses

DEFINITION

Added clarification that stores predominantly engaged in vapor product sales with incidental other products are subject to sales tax permit suspensions in addition to tobacco product sales licenses

TECHNICAL

Added language stating that the new defense provisions do not affect availability of other legal defenses under other provisions of law

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported Do Pass as amended Health and Human Services committee; CR filed

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors