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An Act
ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 3985 By: Caldwell (Trey), Crosswhite
Hader, and George of the
House
and
Daniels, Stanley,
Gillespie, and Standridge
of the Senate
An Act relating to property; creating the Oklahoma
Safe Neighborhoods Act of 2026; defining terms;
providing rules for certain property owner or triple
net leaseholder claims; requiring compensation for
certain property damage; listing certain compensable
damages; providing for compensation in lieu of claims
for monetary damages; providing for how compensation
should be determined; determining limits for
compensation amounts; providing time period for
acceptance or rejection of claims; providing
procedural rules following the acceptance or
rejection of claims; limiting the number of claims
per year; permitting voluntary settlements; providing
exceptions; providing for codification; and providing
an effective date.
SUBJECT: Property
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1110 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma Safe
Neighborhoods Act of 2026".
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SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1111 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
As used in this act:
1. "Affected government" means a city, town, or county to which
a property owner is submitting a claim provided under this act;
2. "Fair market value" means the most likely price, estimated
in terms of money, which land would bring if sold in the open
market, with reasonable time allowed in which to find a purchaser,
buying with knowledge of all the uses and purposes to which the land
is adapted and for which the land is capable;
3. "Just compensation" means, for purposes of an action of
diminution in value, the sum of money that is equal to the reduction
in fair market value of the property resulting from the adoption of
the policy, pattern, or practice or maintenance of public nuisance;
and
4. "Property owner" means either the holder of fee title to
real property, or a triple net leaseholder.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1112 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. Notwithstanding any other law, a property owner located in a
municipality with a population in excess of one hundred thirty
thousand (130,000) people, as determined by the most recent Federal
Decennial Census, may submit a claim for compensation in an amount
determined pursuant to subsection B of this section if an affected
government in which the real property is located adopts and follows
a policy, pattern, or practice of declining to enforce existing
laws, ordinances, or other legislation prohibiting illegal public
camping, obstructing public thoroughfares, loitering, panhandling,
public urination or defecation, public consumption of alcoholic
beverages, possession or use of illegal substances, or shoplifting,
or if the affected government in which the real property is located
maintains a public nuisance, and either of the following occurs:
1. The property owner incurs documented expenses to mitigate
the effects of such policy, pattern, practice, or public nuisance on
the property owner's real property; or
ENR. H. B. NO. 3985 Page 3
2. The fair market value of the property owner's private real
property is reduced by such policy, pattern, practice, or public
nuisance.
B. The amount of compensation to which the property owner is
entitled shall be, at the property owner's election, equal to
either:
1. The documented expenses incurred by the property owner that
were reasonably necessary to mitigate the effects of the policy,
pattern, practice, or public nuisance on the property owner's real
property; or
2. The reduction in fair market value of the property resulting
from the government policy, pattern, practice, or public nuisance.
C. The compensation allowed under this section:
1. Is in lieu of any claim for monetary damages; and
2. May not exceed the amount the property owner paid in the
prior tax year in primary property taxes to the affected government.
If the total amount of compensation determined pursuant to
subsection B of this section is more than the amount the property
owner paid in the prior tax year in primary property taxes to the
affected government and the claim is accepted, the affected
government shall pay the full amount of the primary property tax
back to the property owner. The property owner may submit a claim
for the remaining portion of the compensation in the following and
successive tax years, until the full amount is repaid. No interest
shall accrue on the unpaid amount.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1113 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. Within thirty (30) days after a property owner submits a
written claim for compensation to the affected government in a
specific amount for reimbursement for mitigation expenses or just
compensation, the affected government shall accept or reject the
claim.
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1. If the affected government accepts the claim, it shall pay
the amount requested to the property owner.
2. If the affected government rejects the claim or does not
respond to the claim within thirty (30) days, the property owner may
file a cause of action in the district court of the county in which
the real property is located to challenge the rejection of the
claim. The questions of whether the property owner is entitled to
the compensation and whether the amount of the claim is reasonable
are judicial questions.
B. In a cause of action filed pursuant to paragraph 2 of
subsection A of this section:
1. The affected government shall bear the burden of
demonstrating that its actions are lawful or that the amount of the
claim is unreasonable;
2. The property owner is not liable to the affected government
for attorney fees or costs; and
3. A prevailing property owner shall be awarded reasonable
attorney fees and costs.
C. No claim other than those expressly prescribed by this act
shall require submission as a prerequisite to demanding or receiving
reimbursement for mitigation expenses or just compensation pursuant
to this section.
D. A property owner may only receive one repayment per calendar
year under the provisions of Section 3 of this act.
E. If the policy, pattern, practice, or public nuisance remains
in place after the property owner submits a claim pursuant to this
section and there is demonstrable additional damage to the property,
the property owner is entitled to additional compensation under this
section in a subsequent tax year, unless the affected government and
the property owner enter into a knowing and voluntary settlement, or
the affected government ends the policy, pattern, or practice or
abates the public nuisance.
F. The remedy established by this section is in addition to any
other remedy that is provided by the laws and Constitution of
Oklahoma or the United States and is not intended to modify or
replace such remedies.
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G. Nothing in this section prohibits the property owner from
entering into a knowing and voluntary settlement with the affected
government for an amount less than the property owner requested in
the claim submitted pursuant to this act.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1114 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
This act shall not apply to:
1. Decisions by city, town, or county authorities to exercise
prosecutorial discretion not to prosecute alleged offenders if such
discretion is exercised on a case-by-case basis and the
justifications for each decision are published on a monthly basis by
the city, town, or county;
2. Acts of executive clemency; or
3. Acts or omissions mandated by federal law.
SECTION 6. This act shall become effective November 1, 2026.
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Passed the House of Representatives the 24th day of March, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the 29th 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: _________________________________