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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
HOUSE BILL 2739 By: Duel
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to criminal procedure; am ending 22
O.S. 2021, Section 60.18, which relates to the
expungement of victim protective orders; expanding
eligibility requirements for the expungement of
victim protective orders; and providing an effective
date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 22 O.S. 2021, Section 60.1 8, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 60.18. A. Persons authorized to file a motion for
expungement of victim protective orders (VPOs) issued pursuant to
the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act in this state must be within
one of the following cat egories:
1. An ex parte order was issued to the plaintiff but later
terminated due to dismissal of the petition before the full hearing,
or denial of the petition upon full hearing, or failure of the
plaintiff to appear for full hearing, and at least nine ty (90) days
have passed since the date set for full hearing;
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2. The plaintiff filed an application for a victim protective
order and failed to appear for the full hearing and at least ninety
(90) days have passed since the date last set by the court for the
full hearing, including the last date set for any continuance,
postponement or rescheduling of the hearing;
3. The plaintiff or defendant has had the order vacated and
three (3) years have passed since the order to vacate was entered;
or
4. The victim protective order has expired and the defendant
has not had a subsequent victim protective order issued, the
defendant has not been convicted of a felony offense, no felony or
misdemeanor charges are pending against the defendant, and a t least
five (5) years have passed since the victim protective order
expired; or
5. The plaintiff or defendant is deceased.
B. For purposes of this section:
1. "Expungement" means the sealing of victim protective order
(VPO) court records from public inspection, but not from law
enforcement agencies, the court or the district attorney;
2. "Plaintiff" means the person or persons who sought the
original victim protective order (VPO) for cause; and
3. "Defendant" means the person or persons to whom the victim
protective order (VPO) was directed.
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C. 1. Any person qualified under subsection A of t his section
may petition the district court of the district in which the
protective order pertaining to the person is located for the
expungement and sealing of the court records from p ublic inspection.
The face of the petition shall state whether the def endant in the
protective order has been convicted of any violation of the
protective order and whether any prosecution or complaint is pending
in this state or any other state for a vio lation or alleged
violation of the protective order that is sought to b e expunged.
The petition shall further state the authority pursuant to
subsection A of this section for eligibility for requesting the
expungement. The other party to the protective o rder shall be
mailed a copy of the petition by certified mail within te n (10) days
of filing the petition. A written answer or objection may be filed
within thirty (30) days of receiving the notice and petition.
2. Upon the filing of a petition, the cour t shall set a date
for a hearing and shall provide at least a thirty -day notice of the
hearing to all parties to the protective order, the district
attorney, and any other person or agency whom the court has reason
to believe may have relevant information related to the sealing of
the victim protective order (VPO) court recor d.
3. Without objection from the other party to the victim
protective order (VPO) or upon a finding that the harm to the
privacy of the person in interest or dangers of unwarranted adv erse
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consequences outweigh the public and safety interests of the parti es
to the protective order in retaining the records, the court may
order the court record, or any part thereof, to be sealed from
public inspection. Any order entered pursuant to this section shall
not limit or restrict any law enforcement agency, the dis trict
attorney or the court from accessing said records without the
necessity of a court order. Any order entered pursuant to this
subsection may be appealed by any party to the protec tive order or
by the district attorney to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in accordance
with the rules of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
4. Upon the entry of an order to expunge and seal from public
inspection a victim protective order (VPO) court record, or any part
thereof, the subject official actions shall be deemed never to hav e
occurred, and the persons in interest and the public may properly
reply, upon any inquiry in the matter, that no such action ever
occurred and that no such record exists with respect to the persons.
5. Inspection of the protective order court records in cluded in
the expungement order issued pursuant to this section may thereafter
be permitted only upon petition by the persons in interest who are
the subjects of the records, or without petition by the district
attorney or a law enforcement agency in the d ue course of
investigation of a crime.
6. Employers, educational institutions, state and local
government agencies, officials, and employees shall not require, in
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any application or in terview or otherwise, an applicant to disclose
any information containe d in sealed protective order court records.
An applicant need not, in answer to any question concerning the
records, provide information that has been sealed, including any
reference to or information concerning the sealed information and
may state that no such action has ever occurred. The application
may not be denied solely because of the refusal of the applicant to
disclose protective order court records information that has been
sealed.
7. The provisions of this section shall apply to all protective
order court records existing in the district courts of this state
on, before and after the effective date of this section.
8. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize t he
physical destruction of any court records, except as otherwise
provided by law for records no longer required to be maintained by
the court.
9. For the purposes of this section, sealed materials which are
recorded in the same document as unsealed mater ial may be recorded
in a separate document, and sealed, then obliterate d in the original
document.
10. For the purposes of this act, district court index
reference of sealed material shall be destroyed, removed or
obliterated.
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11. Any record ordered to b e sealed pursuant to this section
may be obliterated or destroyed at th e end of the ten-year period.
12. Nothing herein shall prohibit the introduction of evidence
regarding actions sealed pursuant to the provisions of this section
at any hearing or trial for purposes of impeaching the credibility
of a witness or as evidence of character testimony pursuant to
Section 2608 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
59-1-5688 GRS 12/20/22