House Bill 1834, introduced by Rep. Seneca Scott, D-Tulsa, and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. A.J. Griffin, R-Guthrie, passed through both chambers of the Legislature last month, unopposed, and was transmitted to the governor on April 30 for her consideration. She signed the bill on May 6 and it goes into effect Nov. 1 of this year. Governor signs Native American juvenile justice measure
HB 1834 was initially approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives on March 9, by a vote of 93-1.
After its approval by the House, HB 1834 then moved over to the Senate, where it was assigned to the Judiciary Committee. That committee passed the bill 9-0 after amending the measure by “striking the title”. That was a procedural, parliamentary action indicating the measure would be sent to a joint House/Senate committee that would resolve differences; no bill introduced in the Oklahoma Legislature can become law without a title and an enacting clause.
Instead, the bill was amended in the Senate by a floor substitute, which passed the Senate, 44-0, on April 20. The bill returned to the House of Representatives for reconsideration of the revised measure. The House accepted the Senate’s amended version and passed the bill without dissent on an 81-0 vote April 29. The next day the legislation was sent to the governor.
The final, mutually accepted, enacted version of the bill decrees that whenever a child is taken into custody, an employee of the state Office of Juvenile Affairs or a county juvenile bureau “shall inquire as to whether there is any American Indian lineage or ancestry that would make the child eligible for membership or citizenship in a federally recognized American Indian tribe or nation.” If it is determined that the child may have American Indian lineage or ancestry, the employee of the Office of Juvenile Affairs or county juvenile bureau “shall notify the primary tribe or nation of membership or citizenship” within “three judicial days” [instead of “72 hours” in the version originally approved by the House] after completion of the intake.
(The rationale behind the legislation is to involve tribal officials in juvenile matters sooner rather than later. Also, the Disproportionate Minority Contact [DMC] initiative administered by the OJA could steer minors away from the juvenile justice system via a state/tribal partnership starting with notification or improving communication, with an emphasis on prevention rather than punishment. The purpose of the DMC Core Requirement is “to ensure equal and fair treatment for every youth in the juvenile justice system, regardless of race and ethnicity. This tribal/state partnership includes the co-chair of the NAJJTF task force, with Representative Dode Barnett from the Creek Nation.)
An interim legislative study on the DMC was held in October 2014, and that started steps for decreasing the number of these children in the system. In addition, a tribal partnership was established and was formalized in January with the Inter Tribal Council creating a tribal-appointed Native American Juvenile Justice Task Force; all five eastern tribes (Creek, Seminole, Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw) have named their appointees who will work with OJA, extending from notification efforts to diversion strategies. Meanwhile, efforts are being expanded to invite all 34 other federally recognized tribes into the juvenile diversion effort.
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