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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 58th Legislature (2022)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 4015 By: Conley of the House
and
Bullard of the Senate
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
An Act relating to education; permitting certain
complaints to be filed with the Attorney General's
Office of Civil Rights Enforcement ; authorizing
Office to receive, investigate, hear, and issue
orders on complaints; allowing Office to initiate
certain periodic compliance rev iews; granting broad
discretion to set parameters for reviews; authorizing
Office to conduct directed investigation in certain
circumstances; amending 25 O.S. 2021, Section 1501 ,
which relates to the powers of the Attorney General's
Office of Civil Rights Enforcement; modifying powers
of the Office; providing for codification; and
providing an effective date .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new sec tion of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 9001 of Title 70, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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A. A complaint of an education civil rights violation or
discrimination may be filed with the Attorney General's Office of
Civil Rights Enforcement by anyone who believes that a public school
or institution of higher education in this state has discriminated
against someone on the basis of race, color , national origin,
religion, sex, age, genetic information, or disability.
B. The Office shall be authorized to receive, investigate,
hear, and issue orders on, complaints of discrimination or other
education civil rights violations filed pursuant to subsection A of
this section.
C. The Office may initiate periodic compliance reviews to
assess the practices of public schools or institutions of higher
education to determine whether they comply with the laws and
regulations enforced by the Office. The Office , under the direction
of the Attorney General, shall have broad discretion to determine
the substantive issues for review and the number and frequency of
the reviews.
D. In appropriate circumstances, the Office may conduct a
directed investigation when information indicates a possible failure
to comply with the laws and regulations enforced by the Office, the
matter warrants attention , and the compliance concern is not
otherwise being addressed throu gh the complaint, compliance review,
or technical assistance activ ities of the Office.
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SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021, Se ction 1501, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1501. A. Within the limitations provided by law, the
Attorney General's Office of Civil Rights Enforcement has the
following additional powers:
1. To promote the creation of local commissions on human
rights, and to contract with individuals and state, lo cal and other
agencies, both public and private, including agencies of the federal
government and of other states;
2. To accept public grants or p rivate gifts, bequests, or other
payments;
3. To receive, investigate, seek to conciliate, hold hearings
on, and pass upon complaints alleging violations of Section 1101 et
seq. of this title;
4. To furnish technical assistance requested by persons subje ct
to this act to further compliance with Section 1101 et seq. of this
title or an order issued thereunder;
5. To make provisions for technical and clerical assistance to
an advisory committee or committees appointed in accordance with
paragraph (b) of Section 953 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
6. To require answers to interrogatories, under the procedur es
established by Section 3233 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes,
compel the attendance of witnesses, examine witnesses under oath or
affirmation, and require the production of documents in connection
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with complaints filed under Section 1101 et seq. of this title, said
powers to be exercised only in relation to areas directly and
materially related to the complaint;
7. To hear, and issue orders o n, complaints involving state
government agencies and departments, including public schools and
institutions of higher education in accordance with Section 1 of
this act, on the same basis as complaints involving private
employers; and
8. To provide techn ical assistance and public information to
assist in preventing and eliminating discriminatory housing
practices; and
9. To promulgate rules as necessary to implement the provisions
of Section 1101 et seq. of this title.
B. The Attorney General shall:
1. At least annually, publish a written report recommendin g
legislative or other action to carry out the purpos es of Section
1101 et seq. of this title as it relates to housing discrimination;
2. Make studies relating to the nature and extent of
discriminatory housing practices in this state; and
3. Cooperate with and, as appropriate, may provide technical
and other assistance to federal, state, local, and other public or
private entities that are formulating or operating programs to
prevent or eliminate di scriminatory housing practices.
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SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON STATE POWERS, dated 03/02/2022 -
DO PASS, As Amended and Coauthored.