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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. 4210 By: Boatman, Pae, and Bush of
the House
and
Weaver of the Senate
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
An Act relating to the Attorney General; amending 74
O.S. 2021, Section 18b, which relates to duties of
the Attorney General; requiring Attorney General to
maintain data relating to human trafficking and to
assist certain entities with certain tasks;
establishing the Human Trafficking Re sponse Unit;
stating duties of the Human Trafficking Response
Unit; providing for codification; providing an
effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLA HOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 74 O.S. 2021, Section 18b, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 18b. A. The duties of the Attorney General as the
chief law officer of the state shall be:
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1. To appear for the state and prosecute and d efend all actions
and proceedings, civil or criminal, in the Supreme Court and Court
of Criminal Appeals in which the state is interested as a party;
2. To appear for the state and prosecute and defend all actions
and proceedings in any of the federal cou rts in which the state is
interested as a party;
3. To initiate or appear in any action in which the interests
of the state or the people of the state are at issue, or to appear
at the request of the Governor, the Legislature, or either branch
thereof, and prosecute and defend in any court or before any
commission, board or officers any cause o r proceeding, civil or
criminal, in which the state may be a party or interested; and when
so appearing in any such cause or proceeding, the Attorney General
may, if the Attorney General deems it advisable and to the best
interest of the state, take and as sume control of the prosecution or
defense of the state's interest therein;
4. To consult with and advise district attorneys, when
requested by them, in all matters pertaining to the duties of their
offices, when the district attorneys shall furnish the A ttorney
General with a written opinion supported by citation of authorities
upon the matter submitted;
5. To give an opinion in writing upon all questions of law
submitted to the Attorney General by the Legislature or either
branch thereof, or by any stat e officer, board, commission or
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department, provided, that the Attorney General shall not furnish
opinions to any but district attorneys, the Legislature or either
branch thereof, or any other state official, board, commission or
department, and to them on ly upon matters in which they are
officially interested;
6. At the request of the Governo r, State Auditor and Inspector,
State Treasurer, or either branch of the Le gislature, to prosecute
any official bond or any contract in which the state is interested,
upon a breach thereof, and to prosecute or defend for the state all
actions, civil or cri minal, relating to any matter connected with
either of their Departments;
7. Whenever requested by any state officer, board or
commission, to prepare proper drafts f or contracts, forms and other
writing which may be wanted for the use of the state;
8. To prepare drafts of bills and resolutions for individual
members of the Legislature upon their written request stating the
gist of the bill or resolution desired;
9. To enforce the proper application of monies appropriated by
the Legislature and to prosecu te breaches of trust in the
administration of such funds;
10. To institute actions to recover state monies illegally
expended, to recover state property and to preve nt the illegal use
of any state property, upon the request of the Governor or the
Legislature;
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11. To pay into the State Treasury, immediately upon its
receipt, all monies received by the Attorney General belonging to
the state;
12. To settle, compromise and dispose of an action in which the
Attorney General represents the interests of the st ate, so long as
the consideration negotiated for such settlement, compromis e or
disposition is payable to the state or one of its agencies which is
a named party of the action and any monies, any property or other
item of value is paid first to the State T reasury;
13. To keep and file copies of all opinions, contracts, forms
and letters of the office, and to keep an index of all opinions,
contracts and forms according to subject and section of the law
construed or applied;
14. To keep a register or docket of all actions, demands and
investigations prosecuted, defended or conduct ed by the Attorney
General in behalf of the state . The register or docket shall give
the style of the case or investigation, where pending, court number,
office number, the gist of the matter, result and the names of the
assistants who handled the matter;
15. To keep a complete office file of all cases and
investigations handled by the Attorne y General on behalf of the
state;
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16. To report to the Legislature or either branch there of
whenever requested upon any business relating to the duties of the
Attorney General's office;
17. To institute civil actions against members of any state
board or commission for failure of such members to perform their
duties as prescribed by the statu tes and the Constitution and to
prosecute members of any state board or com mission for violation of
the criminal laws of this state where such violations have occurre d
in connection with the performance of such members' official duties;
18. To respond to any request for an opinion of the Attorney
General's office, submitted by a member of the Legislature,
regardless of subject matter, by written opinion determinative of
the law regarding such subject matter;
19. To convene multicounty grand juries in such manner and for
such purposes as provided by law; provided, such grand juri es are
composed of citizens from each of the counties on a pro rata basis
by county;
20. To investigate any report by the State Auditor and
Inspector filed with the Attorney Genera l pursuant to Section 223 of
this title and prosecute all actions, civil or criminal, relating to
such reports or any irregularities or derelictions in the management
of public funds or property which are violations of the laws of this
state;
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21. To represent and protect the collective interests of all
utility consumers of this state in rate-related proceedings before
the Corporation Commission or in any other state o r federal judicial
or administrative proceeding;
22. To represent and protect the collect ive interests of
insurance consumers of this state in rate -related proceedings before
the Insurance Commissioner or in any other state or federal judicial
or administrative proceeding;
23. To investigate and prosecute any criminal action relating
to insurance fraud, if in the opinion of the Attorney General a
criminal prosecution is warranted, or to refer such matters to the
appropriate district attorney ; and
24. To monitor and evaluate any action by the federal
government including, but not limited to, e xecutive orders by the
President of the United States, rules or regulations promulgated by
an agency of the federal government or acts of Congress to determine
if such actions are in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States ; and
25. To maintain data related to human traffic king and to assist
law enforcement, social service agencies, and victim services
programs in identifying and suppo rting victims of human trafficking.
B. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requ iring the
Attorney General to appear and defend or prosecute in any court any
cause or proceeding for or on behalf of the Oklahoma Tax Commission,
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the Board of Managers of the State Insurance Fund, or the
Commissioners of the Land Office.
C. In all appeals from the Corporation Commission to the
Supreme Court of Oklahoma in which the state is a party, the
Attorney General shall have the right to designate counsel of th e
Corporation Commission as the Attorney General's legally appointed
representative in suc h appeals, and it shall be the duty of the
Corporation Commission c ounsel to act when so designated and to
consult and advise wit h the Attorney General regarding such appeals
prior to taking action therein.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 18r of Title 74, unless there is
created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
There is hereby created within the Office of the Attorney
General the Human Trafficking Response Unit, which shall:
1. Maintain data in a central location on human trafficking
that shall be shared with law enforcement, criminal justice
entities, social service agencies, and victim services programs and
document information including , but not limited to, offenders,
locations, victims, types of trafficking, and trafficking
techniques. Provided, however, that any personal identifying
information shall be de-identified using tokens or a similar method
prior to the sharing of data in order to protect individual s'
privacy rights;
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2. Develop training programs that address prevention efforts
and best practices on identifying and assisting victims of human
trafficking and support agencies in identifying at-risk environments
for human trafficking;
3. Review current state agency policies to ensure they include
best practices to identify human trafficking victims and encourage
reporting;
4. Create an incentive program to encourage state agencies to
have personnel attend training programs and review policies;
5. Appropriate targeted funding for victim services programs;
and
6. Publish public service announcements on various media
platforms to educate the public about the dangers of human
trafficking.
SECTION 3. This act shall become e ffective July 1, 2022.
SECTION 4. It being immediately necessary for the preser vation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its pas sage and approval.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY - CRIMINAL, dated
03/02/2022 - DO PASS, As Amended and Coauthored.