Oklahoma HB 3336

[Prugor]

Taken from House Bill 3336, which I believe was passed around the 1st of May.

SECTION 5. AMENDATORY 57 O.S. 2001, Section 21, is amended to read as follows:

Section 21. A. Any person who, without authority, brings into or has in his or her possession in any jail or state penal institution or other place where prisoners are located, any gun, knife, bomb or other dangerous instrument, any controlled dangerous substance as defined by Section 2-101 et seq. of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, any intoxicating beverage or low-point beer as defined by Sections 163.1 and 163.2 of Title 37 of the Oklahoma Statutes, money, or financial documents for a person other than the inmate or a spouse of the inmate, including, but not limited to tax returns, shall be guilty of a felony and is subject to imprisonment in the State Penitentiary custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year or more than five (5) years, or a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both such fine and imprisonment.

B. If an inmate is found to be in possession of any such item, upon conviction, such inmate shall be guilty of a felony and shall be subject to imprisonment for not less than five (5) years nor more than twenty (20) years in the State Penitentiary custody of the Department of Corrections.

C. If the person found to be in possession of any such item has, prior to the commission of said offense, committed two or more felony offenses, and said possession of contraband was within ten (10) years of the completion of the execution of the sentence, such person, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than twenty (20) years. Felony offenses relied upon shall not have arisen out of the same transaction or occurrence or series of events closely related in time and location.

D. Any person who, without authority, brings into or has in his or her possession in any jail or state penal institution or other place where prisoners are located, cigarettes, cigars, snuff, chewing tobacco, or any other form of tobacco product, or any cellular phone or electronic device capable of sending or receiving digital transmissions shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one (1) year, or a fine not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

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Its not much, but it's something for Oklahoma. Texas has had something like this for a while now I believe, with stiffer charges for bringing an Inmate in their custody a phone. I didn't see a post off hand in the Oklahoma section and I think others who do work in Oklahoma DOC and Private should know this.

[shakedownshorti]

Good deal, now lets just hope every year the penalty gets stiffer!!! This is better than nothing!