The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Oklahoma criminalizes unauthorized entry, establishes penalties, and mandates deportation procedures for non-citizens
Last action · April 1, 2025: Second Reading referred to Judiciary Committee then to Appropriations CommitteeSponsors: Rande Worthen and 3 others
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What This Bill Proposed
Unauthorized entry into Oklahoma becomes a state misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $500 for a first offense. Second offenses or entries committed during another crime become felonies punishable by up to two years in prison and a $1,000 fine. The measure also establishes requirements, alternative voluntary return orders, and over local immigration rules.
Non-citizens residing or entering Oklahoma without legal federal authorization face new state-level criminal penalties, mandatory departure timelines, and potential imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections.
- State legislatures have increasingly considered measures establishing state-level criminal penalties for unauthorized immigration. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Non-citizens without legal authorization
Subject to new state-level misdemeanor and felony criminal penalties, mandatory departure timelines, cash bond requirements, and repatriation procedures.
Law enforcement agencies
Required to collect identifying information, fingerprints, and biometric data from arrested individuals and cross-reference them with criminal databases and threat lists.
Department of Corrections
Tasked with housing individuals sentenced under the measure and notifying federal authorities within seven days to arrange repatriation.
Municipalities and political subdivisions
Prohibited from adopting any local ordinances, regulations, or policies that conflict with state provisions on unauthorized presence.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the penalties for a first-time violation of unauthorized entry under this measure?
Can an arrested individual post bail, and if so, how much is it?
Are local municipalities allowed to pass their own local rules regarding unauthorized immigration?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · passed the House · in Senate committee.
Procedural history
16 actions- Apr 1, 2025SenateCommitteeSecond Reading referred to Judiciary Committee then to Appropriations Committee
- Mar 17, 2025SenateIntroducedFirst Reading
- Mar 17, 2025HouseEngrossed, signed, to Senate
- Mar 13, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred for engrossment
- Mar 13, 2025HouseThird Reading, Measure and Emergency passed: Ayes: 73 Nays: 16
- Mar 13, 2025HouseCoauthored by Representative(s) Hays, Woolley, Adams
Show 10 earlier actions
- Mar 13, 2025HouseGeneral Order
- Mar 3, 2025HouseAuthored by Senator Woods (principal Senate author)
- Mar 3, 2025HouseFloorCR; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight Committee
- Feb 20, 2025HouseFloorPolicy recommendation to the Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight committee; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Criminal Judiciary
- Feb 5, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to Criminal Judiciary
- Feb 5, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight
- Feb 5, 2025HouseCommitteeWithdrawn from Rules Committee
- Feb 4, 2025HouseCommitteeSecond Reading referred to Rules
- Feb 3, 2025HouseAuthored by Representative Hardin, Worthen
- Feb 3, 2025HouseIntroducedFirst Reading
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
State-Level Criminalization of Unauthorized Presence
The measure shifts enforcement of immigration presence from solely federal jurisdiction to state misdemeanor and felony prosecutions within Oklahoma.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.oklegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
- Controversy90Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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