Drummond applauds Legislature’s unanimous push to strengthen domestic violence laws

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 27, 2026) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond today commended the Oklahoma Legislature for unanimously passing four bills to strengthen the state’s domestic violence prevention and prosecution efforts. 

The measures collectively work to keep high-risk offenders monitored before trial, ensure serious injuries are prosecuted as felonies, allow a pattern of abuse to be presented as evidence in court and require those convicted of strangulation to serve the majority of their sentence. The bills now await action in their respective opposite chambers.

“I am grateful to the authors and both the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate for their unanimous support,” Drummond said. “These bills help us bolster our statewide efforts to hold abusers accountable and to provide protection and support for victims to ensure these tragedies continue to decline. Even one domestic violence death is too many.”

The four bills that have passed their respective floors are: 

• SB 1325, authored by Sen. Bill Coleman, requires anyone charged with domestic abuse by strangulation, with a deadly weapon or with a prior domestic abuse adjudication to wear a GPS monitoring device as a condition of bail until their case concludes. 
• SB 1264, authored by Sen. Christi Gillespie, ensures domestic abuse resulting in “great bodily injury” is treated as a felony. The measure also expands the definition of “great bodily injury” to include concussions, prolonged pain and injuries affecting more than 10% of a victim’s body and covers abuse committed in the presence of a minor.
• HB 4342, authored by Rep. Anthony Moore, allows prior domestic violence incidents to be introduced as admissible evidence in court, giving prosecutors a fuller picture of a repeat abuser’s history while preserving defendants’ fundamental rights.
• HB 3264, authored by Rep. John George, adds domestic abuse by strangulation to Oklahoma’s list of 85% crimes, requiring those convicted to serve at least 85% of their sentence before becoming eligible for early release. 

The measures were recommended by the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board which is housed within the Office of the Attorney General. The Board’s latest report, released in February, showed Oklahoma recorded 87 domestic violence homicide victims in 2024 – the lowest number since 2017 and a 29% drop from the prior year, marking the end of five consecutive years with more than 100 victims.