Human trafficking; authorizing Attorney General to enter into agreements for services for victims of human trafficking; requiring certification of certain shelters and programs. Effective date.
Summary
SB 1810 expands and updates Oklahoma’s human trafficking laws and the state’s victim-services framework. On the criminal side, it revises the definition of human trafficking and related terms, and it expressly requires that expert testimony about the effects of trafficking on a victim’s beliefs, behavior, and perceptions be admissible in court when trafficking evidence is offered. The bill also preserves existing provisions making trafficking a serious felony, including enhanced penalties when the victim is a minor, restitution and counseling obligations, parole restrictions, and the rule that a victim’s consent is not a defense.
On the services side, the bill broadens the Attorney General’s Victims Services Unit authority to include human trafficking programs alongside domestic violence and sexual assault programs. It authorizes the Attorney General to contract for shelter and other services for trafficking victims, requires certification rules for human trafficking shelters and programs, allows certain shelters to provide services to minor mothers in emergency situations, expands the statewide 24-hour victim hotline to include trafficking victims, and makes related records and identifying information confidential. It also authorizes the Attorney General or a district attorney to seek injunctions against noncompliant programs and to collect information for oversight and statistical purposes.
Impact
The bill amends 21 O.S. Section 748 and multiple provisions in 74 O.S. Sections 18p-1 through 18p-8. It changes Oklahoma’s criminal trafficking statute by clarifying definitions and expressly allowing expert testimony on trafficking trauma, while leaving the felony structure and victim-protection rules in place. It also expands the Attorney General’s regulatory and contracting authority over human trafficking shelters and programs, creates certification and compliance requirements, protects related records from disclosure, and extends existing victim-services infrastructure to trafficking survivors.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad bipartisan support and little visible opposition. It passed the Senate Public Safety Committee unanimously, passed Senate third reading 45-0, and cleared two House committees and House third reading 82-0. The voting pattern suggests the measure was viewed as a noncontroversial victim-protection and anti-trafficking update.
Contention
No committee transcript is available, and the recorded votes show no formal opposition. The only likely areas of policy sensitivity are the Attorney General’s expanded oversight and certification authority over shelters and programs, confidentiality rules for records and data, and the bill’s treatment of minor mothers and emergency shelter placement. However, the available legislative history does not show these issues generating recorded disagreement.
Human trafficking; creating the Oklahoma Human Trafficking Justice for Victims and Advocacy Act of 2025; increasing penalties for certain unlawful act; codification; effective date.
Human trafficking; creating the Human Trafficking Law; modifying scope of certain defined terms; requiring registration with the Sex Offenders Act; directing Information be submitted to the FBI; effective date.
Human trafficking; Justice for Noncitizen Minors and Human Trafficking Accountability Act of 2025; findings; Human Trafficking Response Unit; report; information; Attorney General; standards; duties; task; terms; responsibilities; codification; effective date.