Democracy Watch

House Committee Advances Death Penalty Moratorium Bill 

By Keaton Ross | Democracy/Criminal Justice Reporter

A proposal to stay executions while an independent task force evaluates Oklahoma’s death penalty procedures unanimously cleared its first legislative hurdle last week.

House Bill 3138 by Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, would establish a five-person Death Penalty Reform Task Force with members appointed by legislative leaders and the governor. The task force would meet by Nov. 1 and submit a report of its findings by November 2025. 

The bill has an emergency clause, allowing it to take effect immediately should it be signed into law. The state’s next scheduled execution is on April 4 at 10 a.m.

The measure calls for executions to be stayed until at least November 2029, though McDugle said he would be amicable to an amendment that moves that deadline to 2026.

McDugle told the committee he believes the death penalty is warranted in cases where the evidence is clear, but believes the judicial system has failed several prisoners with innocence claims. McDugle is a longtime advocate of Richard Glossip, an Oklahoma death row prisoner whose innocence claim is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

“We cannot trust the system, period, and I hate it,” he said. “They [district attorneys] are not willing to stand up and admit mistakes and fix them. Instead they want us all to believe that everyone that has gone through the system has had a fair and just trial.”

The proposal cleared the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee without objection and is eligible to be heard on the House floor. While it faces steep odds to reach the governor’s desk, a coalition of Republicans concerned about the death penalty issued a supportive statement Wednesday. 

“We agree with Rep. McDugle that the time has come for Oklahomans to grapple with the injustices we are witnessing with our state’s death penalty,” said Adam Luck, senior advisor of Oklahoma Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty and former Pardon and Parole Board chairman. “Executing even one innocent person would be unconscionable, and the case of Richard Glossip alone should cause lawmakers to halt the process.”

Want more context on the death penalty in Oklahoma? Read through our past coverage here. 

Feb. 29 was the deadline for bills to pass out of committee in their chamber of origin. What other measures are you watching? Let me know at Kross@Oklahomawatch.org 

What I’m Reading This Week:

• What the Ten Worst Prison Gerrymanders of the 2020 Redistricting Cycle Tell us About How the Problem is Changing: Fourteen percent of Oklahoma House District 56’s population is incarcerated, the fifth highest rate in the U.S., according to a recent Prison Policy Initiative analysis. [Prison Policy Initiative]
• After indictment dismissed, Rep. Terry O’Donnell runs bill to let campaign funds cover attorney fees: In presenting HB 3715, O’Donnell only discussed the possibility of using campaign funds as reimbursement for legal fees involving Oklahoma Ethics Commission proceedings, not state criminal charges. An attorney himself, O’Donnell is term-limited this year and has about $92,000 remaining in his 2022 reelection committee. [NonDoc]
• Oklahoma’s Presidential Primary Election Voting Begins. All Three Parties Have Candidates on Ballot: Oklahoma is among 15 states holding Super Tuesday presidential nominating elections on March 5. It is the biggest primary day of the presidential election cycle where over a third of delegates are up for grabs. Sixteen people filed in December to appear on Oklahoma’s primary ballot. [Oklahoma Voice]

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