SB 1470: Private prisons; authorizing entry of certain individuals for certain purpose; requiring certain request and verification. Effective date. - Oklahoma

Floor (Senate) → SB1470 (3-16-26) (BROOKS) FA1.PDF · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to remove the original effective date of November 1, 2026, and replace it with an emergency clause that makes the law effective immediately upon passage. This change allows elected officials and religious leaders to enter private prisons for inspections without waiting for the planned future date.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding who can enter private prisons remains the same, but the timeline for when this authority becomes active changed from a fixed future date to immediate effect.

TIMELINE

Deleted the original Section 2 which set the effective date to November 1, 2026.

Added a new Section 2 declaring an emergency, making the bill effective immediately upon passage and approval.

SB1470 (3-23-26) (DEEVERS) FA3.PDF → SB1470 (3-23-26) (DEEVERS) FA4.PDF · 3 edits

MINOR

The amendment significantly changes the bill's scope by removing protections for Muslim religious leaders and adding an exemption that excludes individuals whose religion is associated with designated foreign terrorist groups. This fundamentally alters who the bill protects and introduces a new exclusion criterion that could impact religious freedom protections.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed by removing explicit protection for Muslim religious leaders (imams) and adding a new exemption for individuals associated with federally designated foreign terrorist groups.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed protection for Muslim religious leaders by deleting the word 'imam' from the list of protected religious figures.

Added an exemption clause that excludes any individual whose religion is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood or other federally designated foreign terrorist groups from the bill's protections.

DEFINITION

Changed the amendment reference from FA2 to FA3, indicating this is a revised version of the floor amendment.

SB1470 (3-23-26) (DEEVERS) FA2.PDF → SB1470 (3-23-26) (DEEVERS) FA3.PDF · 2 edits

MINOR

The amendment moved the proposed changes from Page 1, Line 16 to Page 2, Line 6, and modified the specific text to be inserted. The original amendment sought to add the word 'shall' and change 'shall' to 'may', while the new amendment removes the phrase ', or imam' from the list of religious leaders. This change narrows the scope of the amendment by removing one category of religious officials from the text.

Scope change

The amendment's scope was narrowed by removing 'imam' from the list of religious leaders affected by the proposed changes.

REQUIREMENT

The amendment text was changed to remove the phrase ', or imam' from the list of religious leaders, reducing the number of religious officials covered by the proposed amendment.

TECHNICAL

The amendment location was changed from Page 1, Line 16 to Page 2, Line 6, and the amendment identifier was updated from 'Deevers-CN-FA-SB1470' to 'Deevers-CN-FA2-SB1470'.

SB1470 (3-16-26) (BROOKS) FA1.PDF → SB1470 (3-23-26) (DEEVERS) FA2.PDF · 3 edits

MINOR

The amendment changes the filing date and senator responsible for the floor amendment, while also modifying the amendment's text to focus on specific word changes rather than deleting and rewriting an entire section. The amendment now targets minor grammatical adjustments to existing language instead of the previous emergency declaration provision.

Scope change

The amendment scope shifted from a substantive emergency declaration provision to minor grammatical edits within existing text.

TIMELINE

Amendment filing date changed from March 16, 2026 to March 23, 2026, and the sponsoring senator changed from Brooks to Deevers.

REQUIREMENT

The amendment text was changed from deleting and rewriting Section 2 (emergency declaration) to making two minor word substitutions: adding 'shall' after 'official' and changing 'shall be' to 'may be' after 'state'.

The previous amendment proposal to delete the emergency declaration section entirely was removed from the amendment text.

Committee Substitute → Floor (Senate) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted to reflect the Senate Floor version rather than the Committee Substitute version. The substantive policy content remains unchanged, including the authorization for elected officials and religious leaders to conduct informal inspections of private prisons, the requirement for a three-day advance request, and the effective date of November 1, 2026.

TECHNICAL

The document header was updated from 'Committee Substitute' to 'Senate Floor Version' with the date February 24, 2026, indicating the bill has been amended by the committee and is now ready for floor consideration.

The bill title was changed from 'Committee Substitute' to 'An Act relating to private prisons' to reflect the amended version.

Page numbering and formatting were adjusted to match the Senate Floor version, including the addition of a committee report section.

Introduced → Committee Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

SB 1470 was changed from a bill amending the Oklahoma Jail Standards Act to allow state health inspectors and elected officials to enter public jails, to a new law creating a separate section for elected officials and religious leaders to enter private prisons. The Committee Substitute version removes the authority for health inspectors to enter jails and instead focuses exclusively on allowing elected officials and religious leaders to conduct informal inspections of private prisons with advance notice and identity verification.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from covering public jail inspections by health inspectors and private prison inspections by officials, to exclusively covering private prison inspections by elected officials and religious leaders.

SCOPE

Removed authority for State Department of Health inspectors to enter jail premises and administrative offices for inspections.

Added new law creating Section 561.6 of Title 57 allowing elected officials and religious leaders to enter private prisons for informal inspections.

REQUIREMENT

Changed entry requirements from no advance notice for officials to requiring a request at least three calendar days in advance.

DEFINITION

Modified definition of religious leader to include clergy members, ministers, pastors, priests, rabbis, or imams associated with recognized religious denominations in the state.

TECHNICAL

Changed bill classification from amending existing law to creating new law, and updated page reference numbers from 2757 to 3669.

Private prisons; authorizing entry of certain individuals for certain purpose; requiring certain request and verification. Effective date.

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