Schools; requiring school district and charter school governing bodies to request a national criminal history record check for volunteers. Effective date. Emergency.

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SENATE FLOOR VERSION
February 25, 2025

SENATE BILL NO. 842 By: Murdock

An Act relating to schools; requiring school district
boards of education and charter school governing
bodies to request a national criminal history record
check for volunteers beginning in certain school
year; defining term; directing the Oklahoma State
Bureau of Investigation to obtain fingerprints and
require payment of certain fee; providing for deposit
of fee into certain fund; allowing reimbursement of
certain search cost; requiring school district boards
of education and charter school governing bodies to
publish certain notice on certain websites; providing
certain exceptions; providing for codification;
providing an effective date; and declaring an
emergency.

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 5-142.2 of Title 70, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. Except as otherwise provided in subsection D of this
section, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, a school district
board of education and the governing body of a charter school shall
request that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI)
provide a national criminal history record check for a volunteer
prior to the individual volunteering at a school district or charter

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school site. For the purposes of this section, “national criminal
history record check” shall have the same meaning as provided for in
Section 150.9 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes. OSBI shall
obtain fingerprints of the volunteer and require that the person pay
a search fee not to exceed Fifty Dollars ($50.00) or the cost of the
search, whichever is the lesser amount. The fee shall be deposited
into the OSBI Revolving Fund created pursuant to Section 150.19a of
Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
B. A school district board of education or the governing body
of a charter school may reimburse volunteers for the cost of the
search required by subsection A of this section.
C. Each school district board of education and governing body
of a charter school shall publish on its website notice of the
national criminal history record check required by subsection A of
this section and whether the school district or charter school
provides reimbursement for the cost of the search, as allowed by
subsection B of this section.
D. School district or charter school volunteers who meet the
criteria provided for in subsection F of Section 5-142 of Title 70
of the Oklahoma Statutes may not be required to have a national
criminal history record check.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective July 1, 2025.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health, or safety, an emergency is hereby

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declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
February 25, 2025 - DO PASS