Oklahoma 2025 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB2014 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1
2	2
3		-	HB2014 HFLR Page 1
4		-	BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments. 1
	3	+	Req. No. 13248 Page 1 1
5	4		2
6	5		3
7	6		4
8	7		5
9	8		6
10	9		7
11	10		8
12	11		9
13	12		10
14	13		11
15	14		12
16	15		13
17	16		14
18	17		15
19	18		16
20	19		17
21	20		18
22	21		19
23	22		20
24	23		21
25	24		22
26	25		23
27	26		24
28	27
29		-	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
30		-
31	28		STATE OF OKLAHOMA
32	29
33	30		1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
34	31
35	32		COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
36	33		FOR
37		-	HOUSE BILL NO. 2014 By: Pae and Deck of the House
38		-
39		-	and
40		-
41		-	Frix of the Senate
	34	+	HOUSE BILL NO. 2014 By: Pae
42	35
43	36
44	37
45	38
46	39
47	40		COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
48	41
49	42		An Act relating to civil procedure; amending 12 O.S.
50	43		2021, Section 921.1, which relates to Legal Services
51	44		Revolving Fund; expanding the scope of the funds for
52	45		representation of indigent person 's forcible entry
53	46		and detainer actions; defining term; and providing an
54	47		effective date.
55	48
56	49
57	50
58	51
59	52		BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
60	53		SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 12 O.S. 2021, Section 921.1, is
61	54		amended to read as follows:
62	55		Section 921.1. A. The Attorney General shall allocate funds
63	56		from the Legal Services Revolving Fund to provide legal
64	57		representation to indigent persons in this st ate in civil legal
65	58		matters to the extent that funds are available from the Legal
66	59		Services Revolving Fund. The Attorney General shall be responsible
67	60		for allocating these funds pursuant to contract with eligible
	61	+	regional or statewide organizations which ord inarily render legal
	62	+	services to indigent persons. The Attorney General may charge an
	63	+	administrative fee for administering the contracts. The funds shall
68	64
69		-	HB2014 HFLR Page 2
70		-	BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments. 1
	65	+	Req. No. 13248 Page 2 1
71	66		2
72	67		3
73	68		4
74	69		5
75	70		6
76	71		7
77	72		8
78	73		9
79	74		10
80	75		11
81	76		12
82	77		13
83	78		14
84	79		15
85	80		16
86	81		17
87	82		18
88	83		19
89	84		20
90	85		21
91	86		22
92	87		23
93	88		24
94	89
95		-	regional or statewide organizations which ordinarily render legal
96		-	services to indigent persons. The Attorney General may charge an
97		-	administrative fee for admini stering the contracts. The funds shall
98	90		be allocated for the benefit of indigent clients in all seventy -
99	91		seven (77) counties of the state on a pro rata basis, utilizing an
100	92		allocation formula that distributes funds according to the number of
101	93		residents whose incomes are less than the official United States
102	94		federal poverty guidelines, based on the United States census data,
103	95		as a percentage of the total number of these residents in this state
104	96		and which reserves funds for services for specialized areas of law.
105	97		B. As used in this section, "eligible organization " means an
106	98		entity that:
107	99		1. Is organized as a not -for-profit corporation that is tax
108	100		exempt pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (3) of subsection (c)
109	101		of Section 501 of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
110	102		as amended;
111	103		2. Has as its primary purpose the furnishing of legal
112	104		assistance to eligible clients;
113	105		3. Has a board of director s or other governing body the
114	106		majority of which is comprised of attorneys who are admitted to
115	107		practice in this state and who are approved to serve on such body by
116	108		the governing bodies of the state or county bar associations and has
117	109		at least one-third (1/3) of the membership who, when selected, are
118	110		eligible clients; and
	111	+	4. Is incorporated pursuant to any applicable laws of this
	112	+	state.
119	113
120		-	HB2014 HFLR Page 3
121		-	BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments. 1
	114	+	Req. No. 13248 Page 3 1
122	115		2
123	116		3
124	117		4
125	118		5
126	119		6
127	120		7
128	121		8
129	122		9
130	123		10
131	124		11
132	125		12
133	126		13
134	127		14
135	128		15
136	129		16
137	130		17
138	131		18
139	132		19
140	133		20
141	134		21
142	135		22
143	136		23
144	137		24
145	138
146		-	4. Is incorporated pursuant to any applicable laws of this
147		-	state.
148	139		C. As a condition of the contract, the organization shall be
149	140		required to determine the eligibility of any person seeking le gal
150	141		services pursuant to this section.
151	142		D. The Attorney General shall prepare annually and distribute
152	143		to the Judiciary committees of the Senate and the House of
153	144		Representatives and the Legal Services Committee of the Oklahoma Bar
154	145		Association a report detai ling expenditures of funds for
155	146		representation to indigent persons in civil legal matters.
156	147		E. Each organization that contracts to provide legal services
157	148		pursuant to subsection A of this section shall maintain books and
158	149		records in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
159	150		The books and records shall account for the receipt and expenditure
160	151		of all funds paid pursuant to contract. Books and records shall be
161	152		maintained for a period of five (5) years from the close of the
162	153		fiscal year of the cont ract period. The State Auditor and Inspector
163	154		shall audit each organization annually. The necessary expense of
164	155		each audit, including, but not limited to, the cost of typing,
165	156		printing, and binding, shall be paid from funds of the organization.
166	157		In lieu of the audit by the State Auditor and Inspector, the
167	158		organization may submit an audit prepared by an independent auditing
168	159		firm for compliance with federal auditing requirements. A copy of
	160	+	the audit prepared by or submitted to the State Auditor and
	161	+	Inspector shall be submitted to the Attorney General.
169	162
170		-	HB2014 HFLR Page 4
171		-	BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments. 1
	163	+	Req. No. 13248 Page 4 1
172	164		2
173	165		3
174	166		4
175	167		5
176	168		6
177	169		7
178	170		8
179	171		9
180	172		10
181	173		11
182	174		12
183	175		13
184	176		14
185	177		15
186	178		16
187	179		17
188	180		18
189	181		19
190	182		20
191	183		21
192	184		22
193	185		23
194	186		24
195	187
196		-	the audit prepared by or submitted to the State Auditor and
197		-	Inspector shall be submitted to the Attorney General.
198	188		F. Funds for representation of indigent persons in civil legal
199	189		matters shall be limited to family law legal services with priority
200	190		given to cases involving domestic and family violence and abuse and
201	191		to residential tenants in actions for forcible entry and detainer,
202	192		commonly known as evictions. In no event shall such funds ever be
203	193		used for any of the following activities:
204	194		1. Provision of legal services in a fee -generating case unless
205	195		appropriate private represen tation is not available;
206	196		2. Provision of legal services in any criminal proceeding;
207	197		3. Provision of legal services collaterally attacking the
208	198		validity of a criminal conviction;
209	199		4. Provision of legal services which seek to procure an
210	200		abortion;
211	201		5. Provision of legal representation relating to the
212	202		desegregation of any school or school system;
213	203		6. Provision of legal services involving any proceeding derived
214	204		from the Military Selective Service Act;
215	205		7. Provision of legal services to advocate for or oppose an y
216	206		altering of a legislative, judicial, or elective district at any
217	207		level of government; and
218	208		8. Provision of legal services to challenge a census of the
219	209		United States of America.
	210	+	G. For purposes of this section "indigent" means an income
	211	+	level of not more than two hundred (200%) percent of the federal
220	212
221		-	HB2014 HFLR Page 5
222		-	BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments. 1
	213	+	Req. No. 13248 Page 5 1
223	214		2
224	215		3
225	216		4
226	217		5
227	218		6
228	219		7
229	220		8
230	221		9
231	222		10
232	223		11
233	224		12
234	225		13
235	226		14
236	227		15
237	228		16
238	229		17
239	230		18
240	231		19
241	232		20
242	233		21
243	234		22
244	235		23
245	236		24
246	237
247		-	G. For purposes of this section "indigent" means an income
248		-	level of not more than two hundred (200%) percent of the federal
249	238		poverty guidelines as most recently published in the Federal
250	239		Register.
251	240		H. There is hereby created in the State Treasury a revolving
252	241		fund for the Office of the Attorney General to be designated the
253	242		"Legal Services Revolving Fund ". The fund shall be a continuing
254	243		fund, not subject to fiscal year limitations, and shall consist of
255	244		all monies received by the Office of the Attorney General for
256	245		indigent legal services from funds appropriated to the fund, federal
257	246		funds, gifts, donations, and grants. All monies accruing to the
258	247		credit of said fund are hereby appropriated and may be budgeted and
259	248		expended by the Attorney General for the purpose of providing legal
260	249		services to indigent clients pursuant to the provisions of this
261	250		section. Expenditures from said fund shall be made upon warrants
262	251		issued by the State Treasurer against claims filed as prescribed by
263	252		law with the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise
264	253		Services for approval and payment.
265	254		SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
266	255
267		-	COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS AND BUDGET, dated
268		-	03/06/2025 - DO PASS, As Amended and Coauthored.
	256	+	60-1-13248 JM 03/06/25
269	257
270	258