Oklahoma

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

Oklahoma Statutes 2021; 21 Okl. Stat. §1125;57 Okl. Stat. §§581 through 590.2

AWA Compliant

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Three days for initial registration.  Three business days for address change and other.

Visitors NOTE: Oklahoma is a “dual registry state.” Per OK Notice of Duty.pdf: 

(1) ODOC registration required within 2 days of entry into Oklahoma if intending to remain in state for 5 consecutive days or longer (includes arrival day), employed more than 5 cumulative days in any 60 day period, and/or enrolled as a student.

(2) local law enforcement registration required within 3 days of entering jurisdiction with intent to reside for more than 7 consecutive days or 14 days in a 60-day period (includes arrival day), employed full or part-time, and/or enrolled as a full or part-time student. 

See sexoffenderregistration@DOC.OK.gov “Notice of Duty”

Shorter registration periods apply to out-of-state registrants with spouses residing in state.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence restriction: 2,000 ft. from school, “educational institution,” campsite used for children, parks, and day care facilities.  §57-590.  Registrants are also banned from living in the same dwelling.  §57-590.1. 

Per OK Notice of Duty.pdf, residence restriction applies to persons “subject to registration due to an Oklahoma sentence or due to entry into Oklahoma,” 

implying that this restriction does not apply to visitors not yet required to register. See sexoffenderregistration@DOC.OK.gov “Notice of Duty”

Presence restriction: may not loiter w/in 500 ft. of school, child care center, playground, or park if convicted for offense involving a minor.  “Habitual or aggravated sex offenders” may not enter park.  §21-1125.  Certain exceptions exist to loitering restriction.

Duration & updates:

15 years to life. §57-583(C). Petition to remove – 10 years.

My favorite art at the Southern Plains Indian Museum, called "Our Monsoon Dazzler"

Most recent visit: June 2023

Before you visit Oklahoma please the Visitors Note above.  Oklahoma is unique among all states in that it is a “dual registry state.”  And what exactly does that mean?  It means that if you enter Oklahoma you will be subject not just to the statewide registries that apply in all other states but also to a “local registry” in the city or county in which you find yourself.  Any failure to follow the many requirements of either of these two registries is a violation that could land you in prison.  Therefore you should be careful not to exceed the number of days that would trigger a requirement to register in either of these two registries.  

Per OK Notice of Duty.pdf: 

(1) ODOC registration required within 2 days of entry into Oklahoma if intending to remain in the state for 5 consecutive days or longer (includes arrival day), employed more than 5 cumulative days in any 60 day period, and/or enrolled as a student.

(2) Local law enforcement registration required within 3 days of entering jurisdiction with intent to reside for more than 7 consecutive days or 14 days in a 60-day period (includes arrival day), employed full or part-time, and/or enrolled as a full or part-time student.

Therefore the two most important numbers to keep in mind are:  Five, which is the number of consecutive days (including partial days) in Oklahoma which would trigger an obligation to register with the state; and seven, which is the number of consecutive days (including partial days) in any locality which would trigger an obligation to register with that locality.

However, as horrible as those numbers are, Oklahoma’s statewide registry sets no limit on number of days per month or year, so in theory if you need more time there you could leave the state after four days, stay out for one day and two nights, then return and restart the clock – as long as you stay in a different locality the second time (unless you don’t intend to stay in that first locality more than 14 days in a 60-day period).  Confused yet?

In June 2023 I traveled through Oklahoma for my very first time, on the return leg of my trip to the NARSOL national conference in Houston, TX.  Entering from the south on I-35 I stopped at the Visitors Center to pick up brochures and maps.  I figured, as many of you might, that this must be a good state to do Reservation Tourism.  

I was surprised to learn that there are absolutely no reservations in Oklahoma – not one!  However, each tribe has a fairly meaningless “designated area” and many tribes own big tracts of land in their own names – and that of course has more meaning than anything else here in America.  There are also a lot of tribal visitor centers, cultural centers and museums to visit, so I made it a point to stop at those.  

One thing I could not do is go to any state or local park, because my offense was an internet offense involving minors.  But even if it wasn’t I still would not be allowed to “reside” within 2000 feet of any “campsite used for children” (whatever that means) or park.  Now, as noted above, per the publication OK Notice of Duty.pdf, residence restrictions only apply to persons “subject to registration due to an Oklahoma sentence or due to entry into Oklahoma,” implying that this restriction does not apply to visitors not yet required to register.  

I was feeling pretty cautious about testing any of these laws out, I was only planning to spend two (partial) days and one night in Oklahoma, and the temperature was over 100 degrees and thus completely unsuitable for camping, so I didn’t have to anyway.  Out of an abundance of caution I did not visit Turner Falls State Park, “home of Oklahoma’s largest waterfall.”

Stafford Air & Space Museum, Weatherford OK

Places I did visit included:  Chickasaw Nation Welcome Center, Anadarko National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians, Southern Plains Indian Museum (very cool), Chisolm Trail Museum, and Cherokee Strip Museum.  I also visited the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, OK, dedicated to local boy and Apollo moon-landing astronaut Tom Stafford, home to all his personal papers and space memorabilia as well as a whole lot of really neat air and space exhibits.

By the time I left the Cherokee Strip Museum it was late in the afternoon of (partial) Day 2.  I crossed over into Kansas, where it was still over 90 degrees and way too hot for camping.