Coordinating Successful Implementation of Marsy’s Law in Oklahoma
When Marsy’s Law – or State Question 794 – passed in November 2018, Oklahoma’s voters created a revised and strengthened version of the Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights to be added to the Oklahoma Constitution. In May of this year, the Oklahoma Legislature passed HB 1102, a law that aligns state statute with the new Constitutional protections approved by Oklahoma voters. That bill goes into effect on Nov. 1, 2019.
Both the passage of SQ 794 and HB 1102 were major victories for crime victims and victims’ rights advocates, but there is a lot of work left to be done! Between now and November 1, the Marsy’s Law Team in Oklahoma will be working with lawmakers, the law enforcement community, and victims’ service organizations to ensure a successful and comprehensive implementation of the law. That includes developing and printing new informational materials, training law enforcement agents, and coordinating services and communications between all the different agencies and personnel who work with victims. It also means seamlessly layering the new protections within Marsy’s Law on top of Oklahoma’s existing (and fairly robust) legal protections for victims.
To that end, the Marsy’s Law team met this past week with senior staff members of the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, the District Attorney's Council (DAC), and the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Our working group talked through the creation of a new and improved victims' rights card to be distributed by law enforcement and the potential for enhanced training seminars focused on victims' rights available through the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET). We are excited to see these plans come to fruition and for victims to benefit from them.
We are extremely grateful for our partners -- in government, law enforcement, and in the victims' services/non-profit community - for working with us to make this process successful!
The Marsy’s Law team meets with staff with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office, the District Attorney’s Council and the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence.