§ 60.14. Address confidentiality program
Oklahoma Statutes AnnotatedTitle 22. Criminal ProcedureEffective: November 1, 2022
Effective: November 1, 2022
22 Okl.St.Ann. § 60.14
§ 60.14. Address confidentiality program
A. The Legislature finds that persons attempting to escape from actual or threatened domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, or child abduction, frequently establish new addresses in order to prevent their assailants or probable assailants from finding them. The purpose of this section is to enable state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing the location of a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, or child abduction, to enable interagency cooperation with the Attorney General in providing address confidentiality for victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, or child abduction, and to enable state and local agencies to accept an address designated by the Attorney General by a program participant as a substitute mailing address.
D. 1. An adult person, a parent or guardian acting on behalf of a minor, or a guardian acting on behalf of an incapacitated person, as defined by Section 1-111 of Title 30 of the Oklahoma Statutes, may apply to the Attorney General to have an address designated by the Attorney General serve as the address of the person or the address of the minor or incapacitated person. The Attorney General shall approve an application if it is filed in the manner and on the form prescribed by the Attorney General and if it contains:
4. Upon filing a properly completed application, the Attorney General shall certify the applicant as a program participant. Applicants shall be certified for four (4) years following the date of filing unless the certification is withdrawn or invalidated before that date. The Attorney General shall by rule establish a renewal procedure.
5. A person who falsely attests in an application that disclosure of the address of the applicant would endanger the safety of the applicant or the safety of the children of the applicant or the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made, or who knowingly provides false or incorrect information upon making an application, may be found guilty of perjury under Sections 500 and 504 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
F. 1. A program participant may request that state and local agencies use the address designated by the Attorney General as the address of the participant. When creating a new public record, state and local agencies shall accept the address designated by the Attorney General as a substitute address for the program participant, unless the Attorney General has determined that:
3. The Office of the Attorney General shall forward all first class, certified and registered mail to the appropriate program participants for no charge. The Attorney General shall not be required to track or otherwise maintain records of any mail received on behalf of a participant unless the mail is certified or registered mail.
No employee of a state or local agency shall knowingly and intentionally disclose a program participant's actual address unless disclosure is permitted by law.
H. The Attorney General shall designate state and local agencies, federal government, federally recognized tribes, and nonprofit agencies to assist persons in applying to be program participants. A volunteer or employee of a designated entity that provides counseling, referral, shelter, or other services to victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, or child abduction, and has been trained by the Attorney General shall be known as an application assistant. Any assistance and counseling rendered by the Office of the Attorney General or an application assistant to applicants shall in no way be construed as legal advice.
I. The Attorney General may enter into agreements with the federal government and federally recognized tribes in this state or other entities for purposes of the implementation of the Address Confidentiality Program including the use and acceptance of the substitute address designated by the Attorney General.
J. Effective July 1, 2008, all administrative rules promulgated by the Office of the Secretary of State to implement this program shall be transferred to and become part of the administrative rules of the Office of the Attorney General. The Office of Administrative Rules in the Office of the Secretary of State shall provide adequate notice in “The Oklahoma Register” of the transfer of such rules, and shall place the transferred rules under the Administrative Code section of the Attorney General. Such rules shall continue in force and effect as rules of the Office of the Attorney General from and after July 1, 2008, and any amendment, repeal or addition to the transferred rules shall be under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall adopt and promulgate rules to implement this program, as applicable.
K. Beginning July 1, 2008, the Director of the Address Confidentiality Program shall cease to be a position within the Office of the Secretary of State. All unexpended funds, property, records, personnel, and outstanding financial obligations and encumbrances related to the position and the Office of Address Confidentiality Program with the Office of the Secretary of State shall be transferred to the Office of the Attorney General. All personnel shall retain their employment position and status as unclassified employees, any leave, sick and annual time earned, and any retirement and longevity benefits which have accrued during tenure with the Office of the Secretary of State.
Credits
Laws 2002, c. 415, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2008, c. 66, § 1, eff. July 1, 2008; Laws 2022, c. 134, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2022.
22 Okl. St. Ann. § 60.14, OK ST T. 22 § 60.14
Current with emergency effective legislation through Chapter 295 of the Second Regular Session of the 59th Legislature (2024). Some sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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