General Government Committee passes Senate bill prohibiting traffic citation quotas

The Senate General Government Committee gave approval to a measure that would prevent any political subdivision or agency of the state from establishing a formal or informal plan to evaluate, promote, compensate or discipline an officer based on the number of tickets or citations issued.

Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, authored Senate Bill 346 and said these practices are unfair to both officers and Oklahomans.

“It’s no secret that quotas exist for many jurisdictions across the state,” Dahm said. “These practices prohibit our law enforcement officers from effectively doing their jobs. Instead of focusing on more important issues at hand to protect our peace and public safety, they are forced to write simple violations in order to meet their quota. This should not be tolerated.”

The measure would also ensure that no officer is required or expected to issue a traffic citation for the purpose of generating revenue, or that a justice or judge is expected or required to collect a predetermined amount of money from persons convicted of a traffic offense within a certain period.

Municipalities could still obtain the court’s budgetary information with estimate of court collections in a budget year.

The legislation was originally filed by Dahm in 2020 and approved by the Senate, but did not make it all the way through the legislative process due to the shortened session caused by COVID-19. The measure now heads to the Senate floor for further consideration.