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HB1276 • 2026

Schools; extending prohibition on use of cell phones and personal electronic devices on certain campuses; effective date; emergency.

Schools; extending prohibition on use of cell phones and personal electronic devices on certain campuses; effective date; emergency.

Education
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Caldwell (Chad)
Last action
2026-05-04
Official status
Approved by Governor 04/30/2026
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Schools; extending prohibition on use of cell phones and personal electronic devices on certain campuses; effective date; emergency.

Schools; extending prohibition on use of cell phones and personal electronic devices on certain campuses; effective date; emergency.

What This Bill Does

  • Schools; extending prohibition on use of cell phones and personal electronic devices on certain campuses; effective date; emergency.
  • Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Introduced (2/3/2025) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Proposed Policy Committee Substitute 1 (2/10/2025) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Proposed Policy Committee Recommendation (2/10/2025) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Committee Substitute (2/12/2025) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Senate Amendment to House Bill (4/28/2026) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (Senate): Floor Amendment 1 (3/30/2026) Fiscal Impact Statements For HB 1276 (Senate): HB1276 ENGR FI.PDF (Fiscal (Senate))

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Plain English: Req.

  • Req.
  • No.
  • 3821 Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 STATE OF OKLAHOMA 2nd Session of the 60th Legislature (2026) FLOOR SUBSTITUTE FOR ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL NO.
  • 1276 By: Caldwell (Chad), Lowe, Moore, and Burns of the House and Seifried of the Senate FLOOR SUBSTITUTE An Act relating to schools; amending Section 1, Chapter 30, O.S.L.

Plain English: Req.

  • Req.
  • No.
  • 12427 Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 STATE OF OKLAHOMA 1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025) POLICY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION FOR HOUSE BILL NO.
  • 1276 By: Caldwell (Chad) POLICY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION An Act relating to schools; requiring district boards of education to adopt a policy prohibiting student cell phone and personal electronic device use under certain circumstances; requiring exceptions for emergencies; allowing board approval to opt out of prohibition; requiring annual approval of alternative policies; defining terms; providing for codification; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

Plain English: HB1276 POLPCS1 Chad Caldwell-SW 2/4/2025 2:50:51 pm AMEND TITLE TO CONFORM TO AMENDMENTS Amendment submitted by: Chad Caldwell Adopted: _____________________________ ______________________________________ Reading Clerk COMMITTEE AMENDMENT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES State of Oklahoma SPEAKER: CHAIR: I move to amend HB1276 Of the printed Bill Page Section Lines Of the Engrossed Bill By deleting the content of the entire measure, and by inserting in lieu thereof the following language: Req.

  • HB1276 POLPCS1 Chad Caldwell-SW 2/4/2025 2:50:51 pm AMEND TITLE TO CONFORM TO AMENDMENTS Amendment submitted by: Chad Caldwell Adopted: _____________________________ ______________________________________ Reading Clerk COMMITTEE AMENDMENT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES State of Oklahoma SPEAKER: CHAIR: I move to amend HB1276 Of the printed Bill Page Section Lines Of the Engrossed Bill By deleting the content of the entire measure, and by inserting in lieu thereof the following language: Req.
  • No.
  • 12384 Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 STATE OF OKLAHOMA 1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025) PROPOSED POLICY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO.
  • 1276 By: Caldwell (Chad) PROPOSED POLICY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE An Act relating to schools; requiring district boards of education to adopt a policy prohibiting student cell phone and personal electronic device use under certain circumstances; requiring exceptions for emergencies; allowing board approval to opt out of prohibition; requiring annual approval of alternative policies; defining terms; providing for codification; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-04 House

    Approved by Governor 04/30/2026

  2. 2026-04-28 House

    SA's read, adopted

  3. 2026-04-28 House

    Coauthored by Representative(s) Clinton

  4. 2026-04-28 House

    Fourth Reading, Measure and Emergency Passed: Ayes: 83 Nays: 7

  5. 2026-04-28 House

    Referred for enrollment

  6. 2026-04-28 House

    Enrolled, signed, to Senate

  7. 2026-04-28 Senate

    Enrolled measure signed, returned to House

  8. 2026-04-28 House

    Sent to Governor

  9. 2026-04-16 Senate

    Engrossed to House

  10. 2026-04-16 House

    SA's received

  11. 2026-04-15 Senate

    General Order, Amended by Floor Substitute

  12. 2026-04-15 Senate

    Measure and Emergency passed: Ayes: 41 Nays: 5

  13. 2026-04-15 Senate

    Referred for engrossment

  14. 2025-04-10 Senate

    Placed on General Order

  15. 2025-04-08 Senate

    Reported Do Pass Education committee; CR filed

  16. 2025-04-01 Senate

    Second Reading referred to Education

  17. 2025-02-13 House

    General Order

  18. 2025-02-13 House

    Coauthored by Representative(s) Burns

  19. 2025-02-13 House

    Third Reading, Measure and Emergency passed: Ayes: 82 Nays: 9

  20. 2025-02-13 House

    Referred for engrossment

  21. 2025-02-13 House

    Engrossed, signed, to Senate

  22. 2025-02-13 Senate

    First Reading

  23. 2025-02-11 House

    CR; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Education Oversight Committee

  24. 2025-02-11 House

    Coauthored by Representative(s) Moore

  25. 2025-02-06 House

    Policy recommendation to the Education Oversight committee; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Common Education

  26. 2025-02-06 House

    Coauthored by Representative(s) Lowe (Dick)

  27. 2025-02-06 House

    Authored by Senator Seifried (principal Senate author)

  28. 2025-02-04 House

    Second Reading referred to Education Oversight

  29. 2025-02-04 House

    Referred to Common Education

  30. 2025-02-03 House

    First Reading

  31. 2025-02-03 House

    Authored by Representative Caldwell (Chad)

Official Summary Text

Schools; extending prohibition on use of cell phones and personal electronic devices on certain campuses; effective date; emergency.
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Introduced (2/3/2025)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Proposed Policy Committee Substitute 1 (2/10/2025)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Proposed Policy Committee Recommendation (2/10/2025)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Committee Substitute (2/12/2025)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (House): Senate Amendment to House Bill (4/28/2026)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for HB 1276 (Senate): Floor Amendment 1 (3/30/2026)
Fiscal Impact Statements For HB 1276 (Senate): HB1276 ENGR FI.PDF (Fiscal (Senate))

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
An Act
ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 1276 By: Caldwell (Chad), Lowe,
Moore, Burns, and Clinton
of the House

and

Seifried of the Senate

An Act relating to schools; amending Section 1,
Chapter 30, O.S.L. 2025 (70 O.S. Supp. 2025, Section
1-126), which relates to prohibited use of cell
phones and personal electronic devices on certain
campuses; extending prohibition; removing language
allowing public school district boards of education
to adopt certain policy beginning in certain school
year; providing an effective date; and declaring an
emergency.

SUBJECT: Schools

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:

SECTION 1. AMENDATORY Section 1, Chapter 30, O.S.L. 2025
(70 O.S. Supp. 2025, Section 1-126), is amended to read as follows:

Section 1-126. A. As used in this section:

1. “Bell to bell” means the time between the first bell ringing
at the start of the school day to begin instructional time until the
dismissal bell at the end of the school day to end instructional
time; and

2. “Personal electronic device” means a personal device capable
of connecting to a smart phone, the Internet, or a cellular or Wi-Fi
network, or directly connecting to another similar device. Personal
electronic devices include, but are not limited to, smart watches,
ENR. H. B. NO. 1276 Page 2
smart headphones, laptops, tablets, and smart glasses. Personal
electronic devices shall not include school-issued or school-
approved devices that are specifically limited for use in classroom
instruction.

B. 1. For the 2025-2026 school year and each school year
thereafter, each school district board of education shall adopt a
policy prohibiting students from using cell phones and personal
electronic devices while on the campus of a public school district
from bell to bell. The policy shall include disciplinary procedures
for violations.

2. For the 2026-2027 school year and each school year
thereafter, each school district board of education may adopt a
policy prohibiting students from using cell phones and personal
electronic devices while on the campus of a public school district
from bell to bell.

C. The policy adopted pursuant to subsection B of this section
may provide for exceptions including, but not limited to:

1. Emergency use of cell phones or personal electronic devices
by students during the school day; and

2. Use of cell phones or personal electronic devices by
students who use them to monitor health issues.

SECTION 2. This act shall become effective July 1, 2026.

SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health, or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.

ENR. H. B. NO. 1276 Page 3
Passed the House of Representatives the 28th day of April, 2026.

Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives

Passed the Senate the 15th day of April, 2026.

Presiding Officer of the Senate

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.

_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________