The Oklahoma Senate approved Senate Bill 541 unanimously on Thursday. The measure authored by Senator Todd Gollihare requires repeat domestic violence offenders and those who assault a pregnant woman to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence before being eligible for parole.
Gollihare says that the Senate’s firm support of SB 541 demonstrates the members understand the need to hold abusers responsible for their crimes against intimate partners.
“The unanimous passage of Senate Bill 541 underscores our collective commitment to safeguarding the well-being of Oklahomans,” Gollihare said. “By enforcing longer sentences for repeat domestic violence offenders and those who harm pregnant women, we are taking decisive action to protect some our most vulnerable citizens and deter future acts of violence. This is a pivotal step toward addressing domestic violence, and continued efforts are essential. I view this measure as part of a broader strategy to combat domestic violence in Oklahoma. We must persist in our mission to protect victims and ensure we remove those convicted of these horrific crimes from society.”
Oklahoma has been recording domestic related homicides since 2002. The Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board says that 122 domestic related homicides occurred in 2023, the most since the entity had been counting.
SB 541 now heads to the Oklahoma House.
