Oklahoma House of Representatives
February 9, 2004

By MIKE W. RAY
House Media Division Director
OKLAHOMA CITY -- A central Oklahoma legislator believes violent criminals ought to have to register with local law enforcement authorities, just like sex offenders do.

House Bill 1853 by Rep. Dale Turner, D-Holdenville, received a "do pass" recommendation Monday from the House Committee on Corrections.

However, the bill passed only after the committee chairman, Rep. Ron Kirby, D-Lawton, cast his vote in favor of the proposal.

Turner said his bill is entitled the "Mary Rippy Violent Crime Offenders Registration Act" in honor of a kindly, 89-year-old Wewoka woman who was strangled in her home last year, allegedly by a twice-convicted felon who moved in next door to her.

HB 1853 would require any felon staying in Oklahoma to register with the local police department or the county sheriff. The convict also would have to register with the police or security department of any state college or university if he/she enrolled in the school as a student or "resides or intends to ... stay on any property owned or controlled by the institution of higher education."

The requirement would apply to anyone released from custody after a conviction for an offense such as murder, manslaughter, poisoning or shooting with intent to kill, assault with intent to kill, armed robbery, first-degree burglary or arson, bombing, or various sexual offenses.

Rep. Ray Young, R-Yukon, asked whether the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation or some other agency has a database of convicted felons in Oklahoma.

"We do not have any tracking system" for felony criminals, with the exception of sex offenders, state Corrections Director Ron Ward said. Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie said the list of registered sex offenders in Oklahoma numbers 5,359, along with 527 more who are in custody for various crimes and 200 others who are living out-of-state.

Rep. Dale Wells asked Ward how many prison inmates currently in custody would have to register upon their parole if HB 1853 became law.

"Probably 30-35 percent" of the nearly 23,000 prisoners in Corrections Department custody would be affected, or approximately 7,000 to 8,000 inmates, Ward answered.
Wells, D-Cushing, and Rep. Terry Harrison, D-McAlester, pointed to a section of HB 1853 that would mandate registration for a conviction not only in any state court but also in any federal, military or Indian tribal court.

"Those courts do not come under the jurisdiction of the State of Oklahoma," Wells noted. Consequently, the state could not compel those jurisdictions to report their convictions to the Corrections Department, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation nor any other state agency.

In addition, Harrison reminded Turner that sex offenders already are required to register with local law enforcement agencies, so including sex crimes in HB 1853 would be redundant.

The bill advanced by a narrow 4-3 vote Monday. Turner indicated that because of the resistance the measure encountered in committee, he plans to revise it before it is submitted to the entire 101-member House of Representatives for consideration.

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