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ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 1344 By: Garvin of the Senate
and
Lawson of the House
An Act relating to court-appointed special ad vocates;
amending 10A O.S. 2021, Section 1-8-102, which
relates to education and training and criminal
history checks; applying certain standards to
required education and training; clarifying
requirements for certain background checks; removing
requirement for payment of certain fee by Oklahoma
Court-Appointed Special Advocate Associ ation; and
providing an effecti ve date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 10A O.S. 2021, Section 1 -8-102, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1-8-102. A. 1. Any court-appointed special advocate
(CASA) available for appointment pursuant to the Oklahoma Children ’s
Code or the Oklahoma Juvenile Code shall complete education and
training courses in accordance with nati onal and Oklahoma CASA
standards including but not limited to:
a. juvenile law,
b. child abuse and neglect, and
c. other issues relating to children such as foster care
and parental divorce , including, but not limited to,
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risk factors which may identi fy domestic abuse and
potential violence and the relationshi p between
alcohol or drug abuse an d violence, safe visitation
and supervised visitation arrangements and standards
for a child and parties.
2. The chief judge of the judicial district for which a court-
appointed special advocate serves shall be responsibl e for
developing and administering procedures and rules for such courses
required pursuant to paragraph 1 o f this subsection.
B. No court-appointed special advocate shall be assigned a case
before:
1. Completing a training program in compliance with nati onally
documented Court-Appointed Special Advocate standards.
Documentation of training shall be submitted annually by local
court-appointed special advocate programs to the Oklahoma Court -
Appointed Special Advocate Association; and
2. Being approved by the local court-appointed special advocate
program, which will include appropriate criminal background checks
as provided in subsection C of this section.
C. 1. Notwithstanding any other provi sion of law, each local
court-appointed special advocate progr am shall require for any
person making application to become a court-appointed special
advocate volunteer or to be employed by the local court-appointed
special advocate program:
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a. a child welfare records search cond ucted by the
Department of Human Servic es, which shall consist of a
search of the child abuse and neglect information
system maintained by the Department of Human Services
for review by authorized entities,
b. a criminal history re cords search conducted by the
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investiga tion, and
c. any other background check meeting the requirements as
set forth in Oklahoma Court -Appointed Special Advocate
Association state or national standards for local
programs, for any person making application to become
a court-appointed special adv ocate volunteer or to be
employed by the local court-appointed special advocate
program. For purposes of this paragraph, “child
welfare records search ” means a search of the child
abuse and neglect information system maintained by the
Department of Human Services for review by authorized
entities.
2. If the prospective court-appointed special advocate
volunteer or employee of the local court -appointed special advocate
program has lived in O klahoma for less than one ( 1) year, a criminal
history records search shall also be obtained from th e criminal
history state repository of the previous state of residence.
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3. The Oklahoma Court-Appointed Special Advocate Association
shall pay the fee for the criminal history record s search provided
in this subsection.
D. 1. Any person participating in a judicial proceeding as a
court-appointed special advocate shall be presum ed prima facie to be
acting in good faith and in so doing shall be immune from a ny civil
liability that otherwise might be incurred or imposed.
2. Any person serving in a manageme nt position of a court-
appointed special advocate organization , including a member of the
Board of Directors acting in good faith, shall be immune from any
civil liability or any vica rious liability for the negligence of a ny
court-appointed special advocat e organization advocates, managers,
or directors.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022.
Passed the Senate the 14th day of February, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the ____ day of __________,
2022.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives