Sen. Bill Coleman’s Press Releases

Oklahoma is known for its love of sports, but some home teams aren’t playing fair when it comes to allowing access to broadcast streams of games for their opponents. Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, authored Senate Bill 302 to ensure all fans get the opportunity to watch their favorite high school teams and players.

A bill that will help more nonviolent offenders qualify for the Electronic Monitoring Program passed out of the Senate unanimously late Tuesday. Senate Bill 456’s author, Sen.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved legislation Wednesday addressing a gap in eligibility for nonviolent offenders to participate in the Electronic Monitoring Program.

OKLAHOMA CITY – A measure to allow district courts to destroy certain court records once they are digitized passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously Tuesday.  Senate Bill 47 is authored by Sen.

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, and Rep. Ken Luttrell, R-Ponca City, will host a redistricting town hall meeting in Ponca City on Thursday, Jan.

The Senate has unanimously approved legislation to ensure nonviolent offenders in Oklahoma’s prison system are prepared to live independent, productive lives once released.  Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, said he authored Senate Bill 1298 to ensure inmates are completing all the necessary education, training and counseling recommended during their incarceration in order to successfully reintegrate into society. 

Senator Bill Coleman released the following statement on the implementation of House Bill 2597, also known as "Constitutional Carry."

As part of ongoing criminal justice reform, the Senate approved legislation Thursday to reduce incarceration rates of repeat nonviolent offenders. House Bill 2009, authored by Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, and Rep. Garry Mize, R-Guthrie, will reduce the sentences of repeat nonviolent offenders with no history of violent or sexual offenses.

The Senate unanimously approved legislation Thursday to modify the state’s “habitual offender” statute in an effort to decrease Oklahoma’s overcrowded prison system. Senate Bill 287, by Sen. Bill Coleman, modifies convictions for second and subsequent nonviolent, nonsexual felony offenses. The bill requires these offenders to serve no more than the maximum sentence plus one-fourth of the sentence that could have been imposed for a first conviction of the current offense.

Individuals in Oklahoma serve, on average, nearly 70 percent longer for property crimes and 80 percent longer for drug crimes than the national average. This is mainly due to the state’s “habitual offender” statute that can double and triple sentence lengths, and often increases the maximum term to life. Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, wants to address this issue by modifying convictions for second felony offenses of nonviolent offenders.