1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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2 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
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3 SENATE BILL 36 By: Dahm
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6 AS INTRODUCED
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7 An Act relating to the Oklahoma Open Records Act;
7 amending 51 O.S. 2021, Section 24A.8, as amended by
8 Section 1, Chapter 12, O.S.L. 2022 (51 O.S. Supp.
8 2022, Section 24A.8), which relates to disclosure of
9 law enforcement records; requiring disclosure of
9 recordings from certain equipment; and declaring an
10 emergency.
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13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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14 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 51 O.S. 2021, Section 24A.8, as
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15 amended by Section 1, Chapter 12, O.S.L. 2022 (51 O.S. Supp. 2022,
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16 Section 24A.8), is amended to read as follows:
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17 Section 24A.8. A. Law enforcement agencies shall make
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18 available for public inspection and copying, if kept, the following
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19 records:
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20 1. An arrestee description, including the name, date of birth,
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21 address, race, sex, physical description, and occupation of the
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22 arrestee;
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23 2. Facts concerning the arrest, including the cause of arrest
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24 and the name of the arresting officer;
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 1 3. A chronological list of all incidents, including initial
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2 offense report information showing the offense, date, time, general
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3 location, officer, and a brief summary of what occurred;
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4 4. Radio logs, including a chronological listing of the calls
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5 dispatched;
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6 5. Conviction information, including the name of any person
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7 convicted of a criminal offense;
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8 6. Disposition of all warrants, including orders signed by a
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9 judge of any court commanding a law enforcement officer to arrest a
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10 particular person;
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11 7. A crime summary, including an agency summary of crimes
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12 reported and public calls for service by classification or nature
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13 and number;
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14 8. Jail registers, including jail blotter data or jail booking
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15 information recorded on persons at the time of incarceration showing
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16 the name of each prisoner with the date and cause of commitment, the
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17 authority committing the prisoner, whether committed for a criminal
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18 offense, a description of the prisoner, and the date or manner of
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19 discharge or escape of the prisoner;
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20 9. Audio and video recordings from recording equipment attached
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21 to law enforcement vehicles or unmanned aircraft as defined in
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22 Section 322 of Title 3 of the Oklahoma Statutes, associated audio
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23 recordings from recording equipment on the person of a law
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24 enforcement officer or audio and video recordings from any other
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 1 source used by a law enforcement agency; provided, the law
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2 enforcement agency may, before releasing any audio or video
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3 recording provided for in this paragraph, redact or obscure specific
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4 portions of the recording which:
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5 a. depict the death of a person or a dead body, unless
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6 the death was effected by a law enforcement officer,
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7 b. depict nudity,
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8 c. would identify minors under the age of sixteen (16)
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9 years or would undermine any requirement to keep
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10 certain juvenile records confidential as provided for
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11 in Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes,
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12 d. depict acts of severe violence resulting in great
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13 bodily injury, as defined in Section 11-904 of Title
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14 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes, against persons that are
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15 clearly visible, unless the act of severe violence was
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16 effected by a law enforcement officer,
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17 e. depict great bodily injury, as defined in Section 11-
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18 904 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes, unless the
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19 great bodily injury was effected by a law enforcement
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20 officer,
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21 f. include personal medical information that is not
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22 already public,
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23 g. would undermine the assertion of a privilege provided
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24 in Section 1-109 or Section 3-428 of Title 43A of the
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 1 Oklahoma Statutes for detention or transportation for
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2 mental health evaluation or treatment or drug or
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3 alcohol detoxification purposes,
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4 h. include personal information other than the name or
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5 license plate number of a person not arrested, cited,
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6 charged or issued a written warning. Such personal
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7 information shall include any government-issued
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8 identification number, date of birth, address or
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9 financial information, or
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10 i. reveal the identity of law enforcement officers who
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11 have become subject to internal investigation by the
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12 law enforcement agency as a result of an event
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13 depicted in the recording. The option to protect the
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14 identity of a law enforcement officer shall not be
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15 available to the law enforcement agency after the law
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16 enforcement agency has concluded the investigation and
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17 rendered a decision as to final disciplinary action.
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18 At such time when an investigation has concluded and
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19 the law enforcement agency has rendered its decision
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20 as to final disciplinary action, the portions of the
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21 recordings previously withheld as provided for in this
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22 subparagraph shall be available for public inspection
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23 and copying. The audio and video recordings withheld
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24 as provided for in this subparagraph shall be
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 1 available for public inspection and copying before the
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2 conclusion of the investigation if the investigation
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3 lasts for an unreasonable amount of time; and
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4 10. a. Audio and video recordings from recording equipment
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5 attached to the person of a law enforcement officer
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6 that depict:
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7 (1) the use of any physical force or violence by a
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8 law enforcement officer,
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9 (2) pursuits of any kind,
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10 (3) traffic stops,
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11 (4) any person being arrested, cited, charged or
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12 issued a written warning,
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13 (5) events that directly led to any person being
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14 arrested, cited, charged or receiving a written
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15 warning,
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16 (6) detentions of any length for the purpose of
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17 investigation,
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18 (7) any exercise of authority by a law enforcement
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19 officer that deprives a citizen of his or her
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20 liberty,
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21 (8) actions by a law enforcement officer that have
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22 become the cause of an investigation or charges
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23 being filed,
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 1 (9) recordings in the public interest that may
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2 materially aid a determination of whether law
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3 enforcement officers are appropriately performing
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4 their duties as public servants, or
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5 (10) any contextual events occurring before or after
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6 the events depicted in divisions (1) through (9)
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7 of this subparagraph.
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8 b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph a of
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9 this paragraph, the law enforcement agency may, before
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10 releasing any audio or video recording provided for in
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11 this paragraph, redact or obscure specific portions of
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12 the recording that:
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13 (1) depict the death of a person or a dead body,
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14 unless the death was effected by a law
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15 enforcement officer,
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16 (2) depict nudity,
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17 (3) would identify minors under the age of sixteen
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18 (16) years or would undermine any requirement to
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19 keep certain juvenile records confidential as
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20 provided for in Title 10A of the Oklahoma
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21 Statutes,
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22 (4) depict acts of severe violence resulting in great
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23 bodily injury, as defined in Section 11-904 of
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24 Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes, against
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 1 persons that are clearly visible, unless the act
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2 of severe violence was effected by a law
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3 enforcement officer,
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4 (5) depict great bodily injury, as defined in Section
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5 11-904 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes,
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6 unless the great bodily injury was effected by a
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7 law enforcement officer,
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8 (6) include personal medical information that is not
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9 already public,
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10 (7) undermine the assertion of a privilege as
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11 provided in Section 1-109 or Section 3-428 of
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12 Title 43A of the Oklahoma Statutes for detention
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13 or transportation for mental health evaluation or
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14 treatment or drug or alcohol detoxification
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15 purposes,
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16 (8) identify alleged victims of sex crimes or
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17 domestic violence,
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18 (9) identify any person who provides information to
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19 law enforcement or the information provided by
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20 that person when that person requests anonymity
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21 or where disclosure of the identity of the person
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22 or the information provided could reasonably be
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23 expected to threaten or endanger the physical
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 1 safety or property of the person or the physical
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2 safety or property of others,
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3 (10) undermine the assertion of a privilege to keep
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4 the identity of an informer confidential as
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5 provided for in Section 2510 of Title 12 of the
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6 Oklahoma Statutes,
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7 (11) include personal information other than the name
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8 or license plate number of a person not
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9 officially arrested, cited, charged or issued a
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10 written warning. Such personal information shall
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11 include any government-issued identification
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12 number, date of birth, address or financial
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13 information,
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14 (12) include information that would materially
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15 compromise an ongoing criminal investigation or
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16 ongoing criminal prosecution, provided that:
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17 (a) ten (10) days following the formal
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18 arraignment or initial appearance, whichever
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19 occurs first, of a person charged in the
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20 case in question, the recording shall be
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21 made available for public inspection and
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22 copying with no redaction of the portions
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23 that were temporarily withheld by reliance
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24 on this division. Provided, before
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 1 potential release of a recording as provided
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2 for in this subdivision, the prosecutor or
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3 legal representative of the person charged
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4 may request from the appropriate district
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5 court an extension of time during which the
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6 recording may be withheld under the
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7 provisions of this division. When a request
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8 for an extension of time has been filed with
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9 the court, the recording in question may be
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10 withheld until the court has issued a
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11 ruling. Such requests for an extension of
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12 the time during which the recording may be
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13 withheld may be made on the grounds that
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14 release of the recording will materially
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15 compromise an ongoing criminal investigation
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16 or criminal prosecution or on the grounds
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17 that release of the recording will
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18 materially compromise the right of an
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19 accused to a fair trial that has yet to
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20 begin. Courts considering such requests
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21 shall conduct a hearing and consider whether
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22 the interests of the public outweigh the
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23 interests asserted by the parties. In
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24 response to such requests, the court shall
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 1 order that the recording be made available
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2 for public inspection and copying with no
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3 redaction of the portions that were
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4 temporarily withheld by reliance on this
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5 division or order an extension of time
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6 during which the recording may be withheld
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7 under the provisions of this division.
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8 Provided further, each such time extension
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9 shall only be ordered by the court for an
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10 additional six-month period of time or less
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11 and cumulative time extensions shall not add
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12 up to more than eighteen (18) months, or
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13 (b) in the event that one hundred twenty (120)
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14 days expire from the date of the events
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15 depicted in the recording without any person
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16 being criminally charged in the case in
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17 question and release of a recording or
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18 portions of a recording have been denied on
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19 the grounds provided for in this division,
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20 an appeal of such denial may be made to the
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21 appropriate district court. In situations
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22 where one hundred twenty (120) days have
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23 expired since the creation of the recording,
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24 criminal charges have not been filed against
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 1 a person and the recording is being withheld
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2 on the grounds provided for in this
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