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SENATE FLOOR VERSION
April 22, 2025
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR ENGROSSED
HOUSE BILL NO. 2729 By: Kendrix, Maynard, Jenkins,
Lepak, Crosswhite Hader,
Stark, and Hill of the
House
and
Bergstrom of the Senate
An Act relating to the Administrative Procedures Act;
amending 75 O.S. 2021, Section 318, which relates to
judicial review; providing for timing of accrual of
certain claim; requiring a court or an administrative
hearing officer to provide de novo interpretation of
statute, rule, or regulatio n; establishing guidelines
for court interpretation of statute, rule, or
regulation in certain actions; prohibiting imposition
of civil penalty in certain actions; providing
exceptions; updating statutory language; upda ting
statutory reference; providing f or codification; and
providing an effective date .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 75 O.S. 2021, Section 318, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 318. A. 1. Any party aggrieved by a final agency
order in an individual proceeding is entitled to certain, speedy,
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adequate, and complete judicial review thereof pursuant to the
provisions of this section and Sections 319, 320, 321, 322 , and 323
of this title.
2. This section shall not prevent resort to other means of
review, redress, relief, or trial de novo, available because of
constitutional provisions.
3. Neither a motion for new trial nor an application for
rehearing shall be prerequisite to secure judicial review.
4. A claim under the Administrative Procedures Act accrues when
any plaintiff properly joined in the action has the right to assert
the claim in court, which at the earliest shall be the date the
party is aggrieved by final agency action.
B. 1. The judicial review pr escribed by this section for final
agency orders, as to agencies whose final agency orders are made
subject to review, under constitutional or statutory provisions, by
appellate proceedings in the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, shall be
afforded by such procee dings taken in accordance with the procedure
and under the conditions otherwise provided by law, but subject to
the applicable provisions of Sections 250.5 and 319 through 324 323
of this title, and the rules of the Supreme Court.
2. In all other instance s, proceedings for review shall be
instituted by filing a petition, in the district court of the county
in which the party seeking review resides or at the option of such
party where the property interest affected is situated, naming as
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respondents only the agency, such other party or parties in the
administrative proceeding as may be named by the petitioner or as
otherwise may be allowed by law, within thirty (30) days after the
appellant is notified of the final agency order as provided in
Section 312 of this title.
C. Copies of the petition shall be d elivered in person or
mailed, postage prepaid, to the agency and all other parties of
record, and proof of such delivery or mailing shall be filed in the
court within ten (10) days after the filing of the pe tition. Any
party not named as a respondent in the petition is entitled to
respond within ten (10) days of receipt of service. The court, in
its discretion, may permit other interested persons to intervene.
D. In any proceedings for review brought by a party aggrieved
by a final agency order:
1. The agency whose final agency order was made subject to
review may be entitled to recover against such aggrieved party any
court costs, witness fees , and reasonable attorney fees if the court
determines that the proceeding brought by the party is frivolous or
was brought to delay the effect of said the final agency order.
2. The party aggrieved by the final agency order may be
entitled to recover against such agency any court costs, witness
fees, and reasonable attorney fees if the court determines that the
proceeding brought by the agency is frivolous.
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E. In the interpretation of a state statute, administrative
rule, or other regulation, the reviewing court or officer hearing an
administrative action shall not defer to the interpretation of a
state agency and shall interpret the meaning and effect de novo. In
an action brought by or against a state agency, after applying all
customary tools of interpretation, the court or hearing officer
shall exercise any rema ining doubt in favor of a reasonable
interpretation which limits agency power and maximizes individual
liberty.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 321.1 of Title 75, unless the re
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. No civil penalty may be awarded in an action brought by or
on behalf of an administrative agency of this state against any
person or legal entity for conduct that would also be the subject of
a suit at common law in which the defendant would be entitled to
trial by jury before a court established under the Oklahoma
Constitution, except after a trial by jury before such court.
B. The provisions of subsection A of this section shall not
apply to a summary judgment rendered in compliance with Title 12 of
the Oklahoma Statutes and any precedents establishing the standards
for summary judgment. Such requirement shall not apply to a civil
case in a court proceeding in equity jurisdiction that, prior to the
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passage of this act, did not involve a ri ght to a trial by jury
before a court established under the Oklahoma Constitution.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
April 22, 2025 - DO PASS AS AMENDED BY CS