SB 945 Oklahoma Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Crimes and punishments; relating to animal cruelty; creating misdemeanor and felony offenses; modifying scope and penalty of certain felony offense. Effective date.

SB 945 creates new misdemeanor and felony offenses for animal cruelty, expanding current penalties. It directly affects individuals convicted of harming animals by establishing specific criminal classifications based on the severity of the act. Key provisions include defining new misdemeanor charges for less severe cruelty and elevating certain cases to felony status with harsher penalties, while also modifying penalties for existing felony animal cruelty offenses. The bill aims to strengthen legal consequences for animal abuse without specifying enforcement details.

Issues: ✗ Criminal Justice

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Mar 6, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → SB945 (3-11-25) (GUTHRIE) FS FA1.PDF · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill was amended from its original introduced version to a floor substitute version, which includes substantive changes to animal cruelty penalties and protections. The main policy change adds a new subsection requiring that prosecutions involving livestock must first be reviewed by agricultural authorities to confirm the neglect violates accepted livestock management practices before criminal charges can proceed. This creates a procedural safeguard for farmers and ranchers while maintaining strict penalties for intentional animal abuse.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include a new requirement for livestock cases, adding an administrative review step before criminal prosecution can occur for animals classified as livestock under Oklahoma law.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new subsection (D) requiring that prosecutions involving livestock must include a determination by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry or a licensed veterinarian that the alleged neglect violates accepted livestock management practices.

ENFORCEMENT

Modified the document header from 'AS INTRODUCED' to 'FLOOR SUBSTITUTE', indicating this is a revised version of the bill that has been amended during legislative consideration.

TECHNICAL

Updated the request number from 1026 to 1818 and changed the date from January 19, 2025 to March 11, 2025, reflecting the bill's progression through the legislative process.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported Do Pass as amended Public Safety committee; CR filed

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

upper

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors