Fatality review board releases annual recommendations
OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 11, 2026) – Oklahoma had fewer domestic violence homicides of any year since 2017, the latest data from the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board shows. In its annual report released this month, the board reported 87 domestic violence homicide victims in 2024, representing a 29 percent drop over the previous year.
“It is encouraging to see meaningful progress in our fight against domestic violence in Oklahoma,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said. “We know that prevention efforts matter, but even one death is too many. We must continue strengthening our statewide efforts to hold abusers accountable and to provide protection and support for victims to ensure these tragedies continue to decline, not just this year, but every year.”
Drummond’s office oversees the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, which works to reduce the number of domestic violence-related deaths by identifying gaps in prevention and protection systems. It began collecting data in 2002.
Overall, 2024 marks the end of five consecutive years with more than 100 victims who were killed due to domestic violence in Oklahoma. The number of intimate partner homicide victims fell from 50 in the previous year to 31, which is the second-lowest number recorded in the past decade.
The number of victims killed by family members decreased from 56 to 45, the first drop in five years. Murder-suicide victims dropped from 30 to 20, the lowest since 2018. In 2024, 16 children were killed by family or household members compared to 21 in the previous year, marking the lowest number since 2020.
Drummond thanked board members for their work and unwavering commitment to ending domestic violence in Oklahoma. He emphasized that the board’s work remains vital as domestic violence incidents in Oklahoma continue to rank among the highest in the nation.
This year’s recommendations from the board to the state Legislature include:
- Appropriating $600,000 to continue and expand Oklahoma’s first program focused on providing specialized trauma-focused mental health services to children and adolescents who have been impacted by intimate partner homicide and attempted murder;
- Requiring domestic violence-related training as part of law enforcement officers’ annual peace officer certification requirements;
- Updating state law to allow prosecutors to use previous acts of domestic violence or abuse as evidence in their cases;
- Updating state law to strengthen the use of GPS monitoring in bail and victim protective order proceedings for defendants accused of domestic violence; and
- Categorizing domestic violence crimes as 85 percent crimes which requires offenders to serve at least 85 percent of their prison sentence. The board also recommends adding domestic violence offenses as eligible crimes for Oklahoma’s violent offender registry.
Current legislative bills related to the recommendations include:
- HB 3763 by Rep. Tim Turner to require annual domestic violence training for law enforcement officers;
- HB 4342 by Speaker Pro Tempore Anthony Moore to allow prosecutors to use previous acts of domestic violence or abuse as evidence;
- SB 1325 by Sen. Bill Coleman to strengthen the use of GPS monitoring for domestic violence defendants; and
- HB 3264 by Rep. John George to make domestic violence by strangulation an 85 percent crime.
