Oklahoma House of Representatives
March 17, 2004

By MIKE W. RAY
House Media Division Director
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Legislation to expand the definition of "identity theft" and to increase the penalty for the crime was approved by a state House panel.

The House Committee on Criminal Justice also endorsed measures Tuesday that would widen the field of criminals from whom genetic samples could be harvested, and to require sex offenders from other states to register less than a week after they settle in this state.

State law already makes it a crime to "willfully and with fraudulent intent" obtain and use "personal identifying information" of another person, living or dead.

Senate Bill 1168 by Rep. Bill Paulk, D-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Daisy Lawler, D-Comanche, would clarify the term "personal identifying information" to include someone's "place of business or employment" and "debit, credit or account numbers" and driver's license number, as well as that person's name, address, Social Security number and date of birth.

The bill would forbid use of someone else's personal identification to obtain or attempt to acquire money, credit, goods, property or service "in the name of the other person" without that individual's consent.

SB 1168 also would make it unlawful to "willfully create, modify, alter or change" someone else's personal identifying information with the "fraudulent intent" to obtain any money, credit, goods, property, service or any benefit or thing of value, "or to control, use, waste, hinder or encumber another person's credit, accounts, goods, property, title, interests, benefits or entitlements..."

The penalty for a violation of the proposed revised law would still remain imprisonment for up to two years, but the fine would jump from $10,000 to $100,000. "In the world we live in today, $10,000 doesn't go very far," Paulk told the committee members. "Consider the price of a house, for example."

SB 1168 further provides that an identity thief could be compelled to make restitution to his/her victim "in addition to any criminal penalty imposed by the court," and could be subject to a civil lawsuit filed by the victim.

The bill passed without opposition.

Out-of-state sex offenders who enter this state would be required by Senate Bill 1096 to register with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and with "the local law enforcement authority" if they intend to set up residence, work at a job, attend school, or stay here "for any purpose" whatsoever for five days or longer; the existing
threshold is 30 days. SB 1096 would compel the convict to register within two days; the current deadline is three days.

Durant Rep. John Carey and Sen. Jay Paul Gumm are the authors of SB 1096, which passed the Criminal Justice Committee.

The committee also approved two bills pertaining to the collection of genetic samples from lawbreakers.

Senate Bill 1190 would allow any DNA sample acquired "in good faith" by Corrections Department personnel or by private-prison contractors to be incorporated into the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation's database of genetic profiles "despite the specimen having not been taken in strict compliance" with state law.

Similarly, Senate Bill 1374 would allow county sheriff's departments to collect genetic specimens from prisoners who receive probation or are incarcerated in a county jail.

Justin Jones, deputy director of the Corrections Department, said that when the state DNA law was enacted, "it was assumed that every felon would be placed in the custody of the Department of the Corrections." Since then, approximately 10,000 offenders "who are not under our jurisdiction" have been processed through the criminal justice
system "but have contributed no DNA samples" to the OSBI's library of genetic profiles.

OSBI Public Information Officer Jessica Brown told the legislators the agency gets "some repetition now" from DNA samples submitted by the Corrections Department; even more duplication would be expected if county sheriffs also contributed samples, she said.

The OSBI sends most of its DNA samples to a laboratory in Dallas for analysis, at a cost of about $33 apiece, Brown said.

In addition, if SB 1374 becomes law, county jailers would have to be trained how to properly draw DNA samples, Brown told the committee.

"So, there would be some cost associated with" the legislation, she concluded.

Senate Bills 1190 and 1374 both received "do pass" recommendations from the committee. The authors of SB 1190 are by Rep. David Braddock, D-Altus, and Sen. Dick Wilkerson, D-Atwood; SB 1374 was filed by Rep. Ray McCarter, D-Marlow, and Sen. Johnnie Crutchfield, D-Ardmore.

All four bills will be placed on the calendar for floor votes by the entire House of Representatives.

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