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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 60th Legislature (2026)
HOUSE BILL 3837 By: Gann
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to the Council on Judicial
Complaints; creating the Oklahoma Government
Transparency and Judicial Accountability Act;
amending 20 O.S. 2021, Section 1651, which relates to
the public policy of the Council; clarifying persons
the Council can investigate; providing referral of
complaints to appropriate entities for review;
amending 20 O.S. 2021, Section 1404, which relates to
removal of judicial officer; modifying definition of
judicial officer to include persons exercising
judicial powers; excluding certain executive branch
officials from partisan political activity
prohibition; providing for noncodification; and
declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law not to be
codified in the Oklahoma Statutes reads as follows:
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma
Government Transparency and Judicial Accountability Act". This act
shall clarify the intent of the Legislature in response to Oklahoma
Attorney General Opinion 2024-17.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 20 O.S. 2021, Section 1651, is
amended to read as follows:
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Section 1651. It is hereby declared to be the public policy of
this state:
1. To afford a means for efficiently and impartially
investigating complaints by any person concerning the conduct of:
a. persons occupying positions subject to the
jurisdiction of the Court on the Judiciary,
b. executive branch officials when exercising judicial or
quasi-judicial powers,
c. persons authorized by the Oklahoma Constitution or by
statute to exercise judicial or quasi-judicial powers
including, but not limited to, magistrates, court
commissioners, special masters, referees, and
administrative law judges, and
d. members of a board, agency, or commission when
exercising judicial or quasi-judicial powers;
2. To provide an agency which can determine whether such
complaints should:
a. be made the subject of action before the Court on the
Judiciary for the purpose of removal, reprimand, or
admonition, or
b. be dismissed;
3. To provide means for procuring necessary information to
enable the agency to perform its functions, including the power to
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issue and enforce subpoenas to testify or to produce tangible
evidentiary materials; and
4. To better the administration of justice in this state
through the means enumerated in Sections 1651 through 1662 of this
title; and
5. To ensure accountability by referring findings that a
complaint has merits against a person exercising judicial or quasi-
judicial powers to the Court of the Judiciary, the Attorney General,
the district attorney, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, or to the
Legislature, as appropriate, for review.
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 20 O.S. 2021, Section 1404, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1404. A. As used in this section, the term "judicial
officer" includes the judges:
1. Judges of all courts created by the state or municipalities
of the state;
2. Executive branch officials when exercising judicial or
quasi-judicial powers;
3. Persons authorized by the Oklahoma Constitution or by
statute to exercise judicial or quasi-judicial powers including, but
not limited to, magistrates, court commissioners, special masters,
referees, and administrative law judges, and
4. Members of a board, agency, or commission when exercising
judicial or quasi-judicial powers.
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B. In addition to the causes specified in Article VII-A,
Section 1 of the Oklahoma Constitution, the acts and omissions
enumerated below shall constitute grounds for the removal by the
Court on the Judiciary of a judicial officer from his office, with
or without disqualification to hold a judicial office in the future:
1. The acceptance of a fee, or gratuity, other than that
specifically provided by law, for performing any act in a judicial
officer's capacity as a judge.
2. Continued willful failure of a judicial officer to comply
with rules and directives of the Supreme Court, the presiding judge
of his or her administrative district, or the chief judge of the
judicial district.
3. Participation by a judicial officer, while serving as such
officer or while a candidate for judicial office, in any partisan
political activity. Such prohibition shall not apply to an
executive branch official who is required by the Oklahoma
Constitution or by statute to stand for election on a partisan
ballot. But the term "partisan political activity,", as used
herein, shall not include the attendance by a judicial officer or by
a candidate for a judicial office at a political gathering, upon
payment of a nominal admission fee, for the sole purpose of
campaigning in his or her own behalf for a judicial office.
4. Participation by a judicial officer, while serving as such
officer or while a candidate for a judicial office, in any election
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campaign other than that for his or her own election to a judicial
office.
5. A judicial officer becoming a candidate for any nonjudicial
office or for another judicial office whose term is to commence
before the expiration of his or her present term of office; provided
that no judge holding a nonelective judgeship shall become a
candidate in a race in which the incumbent seeks to retain an
elective judicial office unless he or she first resign resigns his
or her appointive judgeship.
6. A judicial officer, while serving as such officer or while a
candidate for a judicial office, making publicly known in his or her
campaign material or speeches, or knowingly permitting others to
make publicly known, either directly or by implication, his or her
political party affiliation. Such prohibition shall not apply to an
executive branch official who is required by the Oklahoma
Constitution or by statute to stand for election on a partisan
ballot.
C. Violation by a judicial officer of the Code of Judicial
Conduct as adopted by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma on July 15,
1974, or as may be thereafter amended, may constitute grounds for
the removal by the court on the judiciary of a judicial officer from
office, with or without disqualification to hold a judicial office
in the future.
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SECTION 4. 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.
60-2-14522 AQH 12/19/25