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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR ENGROSSED
HOUSE BILL 2287 By: Pfeiffer of the House
and
McCortney of the Senate
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
[ open records - Public Access Counselor - review of
denial of open records requests - filings - subpoena
by Attorney General - binding opinion - advisory
opinions – codification -
emergency ]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 24A.40 of Title 51, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. There is hereby established in the Office of the Attorney
General the Public Access Counselor Unit.
B. A person whose request to inspect or copy a public record is
denied by a public bod y, except the Legislature and committees,
commissions, and agencies thereof , may file a request for review
with the Public Access Counsel or not later than thirty (30) calendar
days after the date of the denial. The request for review shall be
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in writing on a form prescribed by the Attorney General and signed
by the requester, and shall include:
1. A copy of the request for access to recor ds; and
2. Any responses from the public body .
C. A person whose request to inspect or copy a public record
was treated by the public body as a request fo r a commercial purpose
may file a request for review with the P ublic Access Counselor for
the limited purpose of reviewing whether the public body properly
determined that the request was made for a commercial purp ose.
D. A person whose request to inspect or copy a public record
has not been returned in a prompt or re asonable manner may file a
request for review with the Public Access Counselor.
E. No person whose request to inspect or co py a public record
is made for a commercial purpose may file a request for review with
the Public Access Couns elor.
F. Upon receipt of a request for rev iew, the Public Access
Counselor shall determine whether further ac tion is warranted. If
the Public Access Counselor determin es that the alleged violation is
unfounded, they shall advise the requester and the publ ic body and
no further action shall be und ertaken. In all other cases, the
Public Access Counselor shall for ward a copy of the request for
review to the public body wi thin seven (7) business days after
receipt and shall specify the records or other docume nts that the
public body shall furnish to facilitate the review. Within seven
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(7) business days after receip t of the request for review, the
public body shall fully cooperate and provide a written response to
the Public Access Counselor. To the extent that records or
documents produced by a public body c ontain information claimed to
be confidential or exempt from disclosure und er the Oklahoma Open
Records Act, the Public Access Counselor shall not further disclose
that information.
G. 1. The Attorney General shall e xamine the request and
response and shall issue to the public body or public official, or
both, an advisement in response to the request for review within
sixty (60) calendar days after its receipt. Additionally, the
Attorney General shall notify the requester when the office has
completed its review.
2. Upon receipt of an advisement, the public body shall either
take necessary action promptly and reasonably to comply with the
Oklahoma Open Records Act or shall respond to the requester. If the
advisement concludes that no additional response is required , the
requester may file suit in the proper district court against the
public body of which the request was mad e.
3. A public body that discloses records in accordance with
advice of the Attorney General is immune fro m all liabilities by
reason thereof and sh all not be liable for penalties under this act.
H. If the requester files suit under Section 24A.17 of Title 5 1
of the Oklahoma Statutes with respect to the same denial that is the
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subject of a pending request for review, the requester shall notify
the Public Access Counselor, and the Public Access Counselor shall
take no further action with re spect to the request for review and
shall so notify the public body .
I. The Attorney General may issue advisory opini ons to advise
public bodies regarding complianc e with this act. A review may be
initiated upon receipt of a written request from the head of the
public body or its attorney, which shall contain sufficient accurate
facts from which a determination can be made. The Public Access
Counselor may request a dditional information from the public body in
order to assist in the review. A public body that relies in good
faith on the advice of the Attorney General in responding to a
request is not liable for penalt ies under this act if the facts upon
which the advice is based have been fully and fairly disclosed to
the Public Access Co unselor.
J. If the Public Access Counselor finds that a person
requesting review of an agency ’s action pursuant to subsections B,
C, or D of this section has submitted multiple friv olous requests,
the Public Access Counselor may deny future requests for review.
K. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the Attorney
General shall not be required to produce pursuant to Section 24A.5
of Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the foll owing:
1. Any records provided under this section to the Office of the
Attorney General by another public body ;
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2. Any correspondence between the Office of the Attorney
General and the public body related to advice under this section ; or
3. Any work papers or product of the Office of the Attorney
General in carrying out the duties required by this section.
L. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
Attorney General from enforcing or taking action regarding the
Oklahoma Open Records Act.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 74 O.S. 2021, Section 18b, as last
amended by Section 1, Chapter 296, O.S.L. 2022 (74 O.S. Supp. 2022,
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:
1. To appear for the state and prosecute and defend all actions
and proceedings, civil or crimina l, in the Supreme Court and Cour t
of Criminal Appeals in which the state is interested as a party;
2. To appear for the st ate and prosecute and defend all actions
and proceedings in any of the federal courts 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 ap pear
at the request of the Governor, the Legislatu re, or either branch
thereof, and prosecute and defend in any court or before any
commission, board or officers a ny cause or proceeding, civil or
criminal, in which the state may be a party or interested; a nd when
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so appearing in any such cause or proceedi ng, the Attorney General
may, if the Attorney General deems it advisable and to the best
interest of the state, t ake and assume 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 fu rnish the Attorney
General with a written opinion supported by citation of authorities
upon the matter submitted;
5. To give an opinion in wr iting upon all questions of law
submitted to the Attorney General by the Legislature or either
branch thereof, or by any state officer, board, commission or
department, provided, that the Attorney General sha ll not furnish
opinions to any but district atto rneys, the Legislature or either
branch thereof, or any other state official, board, commission or
department, and to them only upon matters in which they are
officially interested;
6. At the request of the Governor, State Auditor and Inspector,
State Treasurer, or either b ranch of the Legislature, to prosecute
any official bond or any co ntract in which the state i s interested,
upon a breach thereof, and to prosecute or defend for the state all
actions, civil or criminal, relating to any matter connected with
either of their Departments;
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7. Whenever requested by any state officer, board o r
commission, to prepare p roper drafts for contracts, forms and other
writing which may be wanted for the use of the state;
8. To prepare drafts of bills and resolutio ns for individual
members of the Legislature upon their written request stating the
gist of the bill or resolutio n desired;
9. To enforce the proper application of monies appropriated by
the Legislature and to prosecute breaches of trust in the
administration of such funds;
10. To institute actions to recover state monies illegally
expended, to recover state prop erty and to prevent the illegal use
of any state property, upon the request of the Governor or the
Legislature;
11. To pay into the State Tre asury, immediately upon i ts
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 state, so long as
the consideration negotiated for such settle ment, compromise 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 Treasury;
13. To keep and file copies of all opinions, contr acts, forms
and letters of the office, and to keep an index of all opinions,
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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, defe nded or conducted 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 name s of the
assistants who handled the matter;
15. To keep a complete office file of all cases a nd
investigations handled by the Attorney General on behalf of the
state;
16. To report to the Legislature or either branc h thereof
whenever requested upon any business relating to the duti es of the
Attorney General’s office;
17. To institute civil actio ns against members of any state
board or commission for failure of such members to perform their
duties as prescribed by th e statutes and the Constitution and to
prosecute members of any sta te board or commission for violation of
the criminal laws of this state where such violations have occurred
in connection with the performance of such members’ official duties;
18. To respond to any request for an opinion o f the Attorney
General’s office, submitted by a member of the Legislature,
regardless of subject m atter, by written opinion determinative of
the law regarding such subject matter;
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19. To convene multicounty grand juries in such manner and for
such purposes as provided by law; provided, such grand juries are
composed of citizens from each of the counti es on a pro rata basis
by county;
20. To investigate any report by the State Auditor and
Inspector filed with the Attorney General pursuant to Section 223 of
this title and prosecute all ac tions, civil or criminal, relating to
such reports or any irregula rities or derelictions in the management
of public funds or property which are violations of the laws of this
state;
21. To represent and protect the coll ective interests of all
utility consumers of this state in rate-related proceedings before
the Corporation Commission or in any other state or federal judicial
or administrative proceeding;
22. To represent and protect the collective interests of
insurance consumers of this state in rate -related proceedings before
the Insurance Commissioner or in any oth er state or federal judicial
or administrative proceeding;
23. To investigate and prosecute any criminal action relating
to insurance fraud, if in the o pinion of the Attorney General a
criminal prosecution is warranted, or to refer such matters to the
appropriate district attorney;
24. To monitor and evaluate any action by the federal
government including, but not limited to , executive orders by the
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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 Sta tes; 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 supporting victims of human trafficking;
and
26. To investigate and prosecute any civil or criminal action
relating to violations of the Ok lahoma Open Records Act , Section
24A.1 et seq. of Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or the Oklahoma
Open Meeting Act, Section 301 et s eq. of Title 25 of the Ok lahoma
Statutes, if the Attorney Gen eral determines that a civil or
criminal prosecution is warranted or to defer such matters to a
district attorney.
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,
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 the
Corporation Commission as the Attorney General’s legally appointed
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representative in suc h appeals, and it shall be the duty of the
Corporation Commission counsel to act when so designated and to
consult and advise wit h the Attorney General regarding such appeals
prior to taking action therein.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
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 passage and approval.
59-1-2095 TEK 4/11/2023 1:36:21 PM