‘Kasey Alert’ law by State Senator Rogers of Tulsa pending on Governor Stitt’s desk

Oklahoma City – Senator Cody Rogers, R-Tulsa, received unanimous approval in the Senate Monday for a bill that establishes a notification system for missing persons that are not covered by Amber or Silver Alerts.

House Bill 1077 establishes the “Kasey Alert” system and is named for Kasey Russell, a 29-year-old Cherokee Nation Citizen who went missing in 2016. The bill has now been sent to the governor for final consideration.

“This bill is named for a young man who disappeared while walking home from a casino, and he sadly never made it home,” Rogers said.

“There was no investigation into his disappearance until his body was found. I appreciate my colleagues for supporting this measure as it will increase cooperation between agencies and speed up investigations for missing persons between the ages of 18 and 59.

“If this legislation is signed into law, Kasey Alerts could begin going out in November.”

On Monday, April 24, members of the upper chamber approved the “Kasey Alert” 47-0, with only one member excused (not voting).

During legislative deliberations, Legislative Fiscal Staff concluded “This system would be implemented using existing infrastructure, bearing no cost increase to DPS [the Department of Public Service]. In its current form, H.B. 1077 is not anticipated to have an impact on state budget or appropriations.”

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2023-24%20SUPPORT%20DOCUMENTS/impact%20statements/fiscal/Senate/HB1077%20ENGR%20FI.PDF

Rep. Ken Luttrell, R-Ponca City, served as the House principal author of the bill.

“House Bill 1077 is the result of four years of hard work behind the scenes, and I’m thankful to see it move to the governor’s desk,” Luttrell said.

“I hope that this new policy will increase communication between law enforcement agencies when someone goes missing to coordinate efforts or information and hopefully find and return them to their loved ones more quickly.

“I want to thank Senator Cody Rogers for his work to pass this bill in the Senate, as well as Representatives Daniel Pae and Mickey Dollens who worked with me on the legislation.”

Early in the House process for the bill, state Representative Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, joined as a co-author. State Representative Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, joined the effort, and Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City.

On March 7, the measure sailed through the chamber 77-2, securing overwhelming bi-partisan backing, with 22 members not voting.

H.B. 1077 went to the chief executive of Oklahoma, Governor Kevin Stitt, on April 25.

Note: Pat McGuigan, founder and publisher of CapitolBeatOK.com, prepared this story for posting, working from a Senate press release. Pat added information about the “no-cost” projection and the final votes in both chambers. Founded in 2009, CapitolBeatOK.com is an independent, non-partisan and locally-managed news service based in Oklahoma City.