SB 1743 Oklahoma Senate · 2026 Regular Session

State government; adding the State Board of Career and Technology Education to certain exceptions regarding employment of attorneys. Effective date. Emergency.

SB 1743 amends Oklahoma law to allow the State Board of Career and Technology Education to directly hire attorneys, expanding a list of state entities permitted to employ legal counsel without relying on the Attorney General. This change updates Section 18c of the Oklahoma Statutes, which previously excluded most state boards from hiring attorneys but already included similar entities like the Oklahoma Tax Commission and State Board of Corrections. The bill does not alter existing legal duties or create new policy; it simply adds this specific board to the statutory exceptions. The amendment takes effect July 1, 2026, and is designated as an emergency measure.

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 2, 2026 Last action Mar 5, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Floor (Senate) · 3 edits

MINOR

SB 1743 was amended during Senate floor consideration to add the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission to the list of entities that may employ attorneys, and to add the Grand River Dam Authority to the list of entities for which the Attorney General must provide legal defense. The bill also updated formatting and sponsorship information to reflect the Senate floor version.

Scope change

The bill's scope of entities that can employ attorneys was expanded to include the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, and the list of entities requiring Attorney General defense was expanded to include the Grand River Dam Authority.

SCOPE

Added the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission to the list of state entities authorized to employ or appoint attorneys.

Added the Grand River Dam Authority to the list of entities for which the Attorney General must defend legal actions.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill header information to reflect Senate floor version with new sponsors (Green of Senate and Wilk of House) and committee report details.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported Do Pass Judiciary committee; CR filed

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Committee

Referred to Judiciary

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Introduced

First Reading

upper

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors