Oklahoma 2024 2024 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB3777 Amended / Bill

Filed 04/10/2024

                     
 
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SENATE FLOOR VERSION 
April 9, 2024 
 
 
ENGROSSED HOUSE 
BILL NO. 3777 	By: Duel, Davis, and Lowe 
(Jason) of the House 
 
  and 
 
  Howard of the Senate 
 
 
 
 
 
An Act relating to criminal procedure; specifying 
requirements for issuing criminal subpoenas; 
requiring witnesses to attend trials or hearings upon 
service of subpoenas; allowing court clerks and 
attorneys to issue subpoenas; directing issuers of 
subpoenas to avoid imposing undue burden or expense 
on persons subject to subpoenas; requiring courts to 
enforce said duty; providing for sanctions; allowing 
courts to quash or modify subpoenas under certain 
circumstances; declaring subpoenas separate and 
distinct from certain rights or obligations; amending 
22 O.S. 2021, Section s 708, 710, 712, 715 and 716, 
which relate to the service and issuance of 
subpoenas; updating statutory reference s and form 
requirements; providing guidelines and requirements 
for issuing subpoenas requesting the production of 
documents or inspecti on of premises; allowing for the 
nonappearance of persons unless commanded to appear; 
authorizing service of written objection s to 
subpoenas; establishing time period for submitting 
written objections; providing procedures for serving 
written objections; allowing parties to move for 
orders to compel production; providing requirements 
for producing documents; providing guidelines for 
claims of privilege or protection of trial 
preparation materials; clarifying processes for 
serving subpoenas in person and by mail; modifying 
exemption to subpoena requirem ent for court clerks; 
clarifying criminal contempt penalty provision; 
providing for codification; and providing an 
effective date.   
 
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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 707.1 of Title 22, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
A.  A subpoena issued on behalf of or by a defendant to a law 
enforcement agency may command the production of the foll owing law 
enforcement records: 
1.  Body camera videos; 
2.  Vehicle mounted camera videos; 
3.  Traffic camera videos; and 
4.  Law enforcement incident reports. 
B.  A law enforcement agency may charge a record copying fee of 
not more than One Dollar ($1. 00) per page and a video copying fee of 
not more than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per video when complying with 
the requests of the subpoena. 
SECTION 2.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 707.2 of Title 22, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
A.  Every subpoena issued on behalf of or by a defendant shall 
state the name of the court from which it is issued and the title of 
the action.   
 
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B. A witness shall be obli gated upon service of a subpoena to 
attend a trial or hearing at any place within the state. 
C.  The court clerk shall issue a subpoena, or a subpoena for 
the production of documentary evidence, signed and sealed but 
otherwise in blank, to a party requesti ng it, who shall complete the 
subpoena before service.  As an officer of the court, an attorney 
authorized to practice law in this state may also issue and sign a 
subpoena on behalf of a court in this state. 
SECTION 3.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 707. 3 of Title 22, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
A party or an attorney responsible for the issuance and service 
of a subpoena shall take reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue 
burden or expense on a person subject to that subpoena.  The court 
on behalf of which the subpoena w as issued shall enforce this duty 
and impose upon the party or attorney, or both, in breach of this 
duty an appropriate sancti on, which may include, but is not limited 
to, lost earnings and a reasonable attorney fee. 
SECTION 4.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 707. 4 of Title 22, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
A.  On timely motion, the court by which a subpoena was issued 
shall quash or modify the su bpoena if it: 
1.  Fails to allow reasonable time for compliance;   
 
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2.  Requires a person to travel to a place beyond the limits of 
the county where the person resides or is served with the subpoena; 
3.  Requires disclosure of privileged or other protected matter 
and no exception or waiver applies ; 
4.  Subjects a person to undue burden ; or 
5.  Requires production of books, papers, d ocuments, or tangible 
things that fall outside the scope of discovery permitted by Section 
3226 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statut es. 
B.  If a subpoena: 
1.  Requires disclosure of a trade secret or other confidential 
research, development, or commercial in formation; or 
2.  Requires disclosure of the opinion of an unretained expert 
or information not describing specific events or occurrences in 
dispute and resulting from the study by the expert made not at the 
request of any party, the court may, to protect a person subject to 
or affected by the subpoena, quash or modify the subpoena.  However, 
if the party in whose behalf the subpoena is issued shows a 
substantial need for the testimony or material that cannot be 
otherwise met without undue hardship and assu res that the person to 
whom the subpoena is addressed will be reasonably compensated, the 
court may order appearance or production only upon specified 
conditions.   
 
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SECTION 5.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 707. 5 of Title 22, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
Subpoenas issued in accordance with the provisions of Sections 
707.1 through 707.3, 708, 710 and 712 of Title 22 of the Oklahoma 
Statutes shall be considered separate and distinct from any right or 
obligation provided for in Section 2002 of Title 22 of the Oklahoma 
Statutes. 
SECTION 6.     AMENDATORY     22 O.S. 2021, Section 708, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 708. A subpoena, authorized by the last four sections 
provisions of Sections 704, 705, 706, 707 , and 707.1 of this title, 
must be substantially in the following form: 
IN THE NAME OF THE STATE OF 
OKLAHOMA. 
To .........  , 
Greeting:  You are commanded to appear before C. D., a justice 
of the peace of ........ at ....... (or the grand jury of the county 
County of ......... or the district court of ......... county 
County, or other location as the case may be specified), on the 
........ (stating day and hour), and remain in attendance on and 
call of said ........ from day to day and term to term until 
lawfully discharged, as a witness in a criminal action prosecuted by   
 
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the State of Oklahoma against E. F. (or to testify as the case may 
be). 
SECTION 7.     AMENDATORY     22 O.S. 2021, Section 710, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 710.  A. If the books, papers or documents be required, 
a direction to the following effect must be continued in the 
subpoena: 
And you are required also to bring with you th e following: 
(Describe intelligently the books, papers or documents required). 
B. A copy of any subpoena that commands production of documents 
and things or inspection of premises before trial shall be served on 
each party in the manner prescribed by subs ection B of Section 2005 
of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  If the subpoena commands 
production of documents and things or inspection of premises from a 
nonparty before trial but does not require attendance of a witness, 
the subpoena shall specify a da te and location for the production or 
inspection that is at least seven (7) days after the date that the 
subpoena and copies of th e subpoena are served on the witness and 
all parties, and the subpoena shall include the following language: 
"In order to allow objections to the production of documents and 
things to be filed, you should not produce them until the date 
specified in this subpoena, and if an objection is filed, until the 
court rules on the objection. "   
 
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C.  A person commanded to produce and permit i nspection, 
copying, testing or sampling of designated books, papers, documents, 
electronically stored information or tangible thin gs, or inspection 
of premises need not appear in person at the place of production or 
inspection unless commanded to appear fo r deposition, hearing , or 
trial. 
D.  Subject to subsection F of this section, a person commanded 
to produce and permit inspection, copying, testing or sampling , or 
any party may, within fourteen (14) days after service of the 
subpoena or before the time sp ecified for compliance if such time is 
less than fourteen (14) days after service, serve written objection 
to inspection, copying, testing, or sampling of any or all of the 
designated materials or of the premises, or to producing 
electronically stored info rmation in the form or forms requested.  
An objection that all or a portion of the requested material will or 
should be withheld on a claim that it is privileged or subject to 
protection as trial preparation materials shall be made within this 
time period and in accordance with subsection s E and F of this 
section.  If the objection is made by the witness, the witness shall 
serve the objection on all parties; if objection is made by a party, 
the party shall serve the objection on the witness and all other 
parties.  If objection is made, the party serving the subpoena shall 
not be entitled to inspect, copy, test , or sample the materials or 
inspect the premises except pursuant to an order of the court by   
 
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which the subpoena was issued. For failure to object in a timely 
fashion, the court may assess reasonable costs and attorney fees or 
take any other action it deems proper; however, a pri vilege or the 
protection for trial preparation materials shall not be waived 
solely for a failure to timely object under this section.  If 
objection has been made, the party serving the subpoena may, upon 
notice to the person commanded to produce, move at any time for an 
order to compel the production. Such an order to compel production 
shall protect any person who is not a part y or an officer of a party 
from significant expense resulting from the inspection and copying 
commanded. 
E. 1.  A person respondi ng to a subpoena to produce documents 
shall produce them as they are kept in the usual course of business 
or shall organize an d label them to correspond with the categories 
in the demand. 
2.  If a subpoena does not specify the form or forms for 
producing electronically stored information, a person responding to 
a subpoena shall produce the information in a form or forms in which 
the person ordinarily maintains it or in a form or forms that are 
reasonably usable. 
3.  A person responding to a subpoena is not required to produce 
the same electronically stored information in more than one form. 
4.  A person responding to a subpoena is not required to provide 
discovery of electronically stored information from sources that the   
 
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person identifies as not reasonably accessible because of undue 
burden or cost.  If such showing is made, the court may order 
discovery from such sources if the r equesting party shows good 
cause, considering the limitations of subparagraph c of paragraph 2 
of subsection B of Section 3226 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma 
Statutes.  The court may specify conditions for the discovery. 
F.  1.  When information subject to a subpoena is withheld on a 
claim that it is privileged or subject to protection as trial 
preparation materials, the claim shall be made expressly and shall 
be supported by a description of the nature of the documents, 
communications, or things not produced that is sufficient to enable 
the demanding party to contest the claim. 
2.  If information is produced in response to a subpoena th at is 
subject to a claim or privilege or of protection as trial 
preparation material, the person making the claim may notify a ny 
party that received the information of the claim and the basis for 
such claim.  After being notified, a party shall promptly return, 
sequester, or destroy the specified information and any copies the 
party has and may not use or disclose the information until the 
claim is resolved.  A receiving party may promptly present the 
information to the court under seal for a determination of the 
claim.  If the receiving party disclosed the information before 
being notified, such party shall take reasonable steps to retrieve 
the information.  The person who produced the information shall   
 
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preserve the information until the claim is resolved.  This 
mechanism is procedural only and does not alter the standards 
governing whether the information is privileged or subject to 
protection as trial preparation material or whether such privilege 
or protection has been waived. 
SECTION 8.    AMENDATORY     22 O.S. 2021, Section 712, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 712.  A.  Service of subpoenas for witnesses in criminal 
actions in the district courts of this state a subpoena upon a 
person named therein shall be made in the same manner as in civil 
actions pursuant to Section 2004.1 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma 
Statutes by delivering or mailing a copy thereo f to such person and, 
if the attendance of the person is demanded, by tendering to that 
person the fees for one (1) day of attenda nce and the mileage 
allowed by law.  Service of a subpoena may be accomplished by any 
person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older. 
B.  Service of a subpoena by mail may be accomplished by mailing 
a copy thereof by certified mail with return receipt requested and 
delivery restricted to the person named in the subpoena. The person 
serving the subpoena shall make proof of ser vice thereof to the 
court promptly, and in any event, before the witness is required to 
testify at the hearing or trial.  If service is made by a person 
other than a peace officer, such person shall make affidavit 
thereof.  If service is by mail, the perso n serving the subpoena   
 
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shall show in the proof of service the date and place of mailing and 
attach a copy of the return receipt showing that the mailing was 
accepted.  Failure to make proof of service does not affect the 
validity of the service, but servic e of a subpoena by mail shall not 
be effective if the mailing was not accepted by the person named in 
the subpoena. The cost costs of service of subpoenas shall be borne 
by the parties unless otherwise ordered by the court allowed whether 
service is made by a peace officer or any other person . 
SECTION 9.     AMENDATORY     22 O.S. 2021, Section 715, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 715.  A.  No person is obliged to attend as a witness 
before a court or magistrate outside the county where the witness 
resides or is served with a subpoena, unless the judge of the court 
in which the offense is triable, upon an aff idavit of the district 
attorney, or of the defendant or the defendant 's counsel, stating 
that he or she believes that the evid ence and attendance of the 
witness is material and necessary, shall endorse on the subpoena an 
order for the attendance of the witness. 
B.  The court clerks of this state shall not be subject to 
subpoena in matters relating to court records unless the court makes 
a specific finding that the appearance and testimony of the court 
clerk are both material and necessary because of a writt en objection 
to the introduction of certified documents court records made by the 
defendant or other party prior to trial.   
 
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SECTION 10.     AMENDATORY     22 O.S. 2021, Section 716, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 716.  Disobedience or failure by any person without 
adequate excuse to obey a subpoena served upon himself or herself , 
or a refusal to be sworn o r to testify, may be punished by the court 
or magistrate, as for deemed a criminal contempt, in the manner 
provided in civil proce dure of the court from which the subpoena was 
issued. 
SECTION 11.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2024. 
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY 
April 9, 2024 - DO PASS