§ 21-443 — Escape from city or county jail or custody of Department

of Corrections - Penalty - Juvenile or youthful offender. A. Any person having been imprisoned in a county or city jail awaiting charges on a felony offense or prisoner awaiting trial or having been sentenced on a felony charge to the custody of the Department of Corrections or any other prisoner having been lawfully detained who escapes from a county or city jail, either while actually confined therein, while permitted to be at large as a trusty, or while awaiting transportation to a Department of Corrections facility for execution of sentence, shall be guilty of a Class D1 felony offense punishable by imprisonment as provided for in subsections B through F of Section 20N of this title. B. Any person who is an inmate in the custody of the Department of Corrections who escapes from said custody, either while actually confined in a correctional facility, while assigned to an alternative to incarceration authorized by law, while assigned to the Preparole Conditional Supervision Program as authorized by Section 365 of Title 57 of the Oklahoma Statutes or while permitted to be at large as a trusty, shall be guilty of a Class D1 felony offense punishable by imprisonment as provided for in subsections B through F of Section 20N of this title. C. For the purposes of this section, an inmate assigned to an alternative to incarceration authorized by law or to the Preparole Conditional Supervision Program shall be considered to have escaped if the inmate cannot be located within a twenty-four hour period or if he or she fails to report to a correctional facility or institution, as directed. This includes any person escaping by absconding from an electronic monitoring device or absconding after removing an electronic monitoring device from their body. D. For the purposes of this section, if the individual who escapes has felony convictions for offenses other than the offense for which the person was serving imprisonment at the time of the escape, those previous felony convictions may be used for enhancement of punishment pursuant to the provisions of Section 434 of this title. The fact that any such convictions may have been used to enhance punishment in the sentence for the offense for which the person was imprisoned at the time of the escape shall not prevent such convictions from being used to enhance punishment for the escape. E. Any juvenile or youthful offender lawfully placed in a juvenile detention facility or secure juvenile facility, other than a community intervention center, who escapes from the facility while actually confined therein, who escapes while escorted by a transportation officer, or who escapes while permitted to be on an authorized pass or work program outside the facility shall be guilty of a Class D1 felony offense punishable by imprisonment as provided for in subsections B through F of Section 20N of this title. For purposes of this subsection: 1. A juvenile or youthful offender permitted to be on an authorized pass or work program shall be considered to have escaped if the juvenile or youthful offender cannot be located within a twenty-four-hour period or if the juvenile or youthful offender fails to report to the facility at the specified time, and shall include any juvenile or youthful offender escaping by absconding from an electronic monitoring device or absconding after removing an electronic monitoring device from the body of the juvenile or youthful offender; and 2. “Escape” means a juvenile or youthful offender in lawful custody who has absented himself or herself without official permission from a facility or secure placement, during transport to or from such facility, or failure to return from a pass issued by a facility.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 1939, p. 6, § 1. Amended by Laws 1943, p. 83, § 1; Laws 1974, c. 285, § 15, emerg. eff. May 29, 1974; Laws 1976, c. 175, § 1, emerg. eff. May 31, 1976; Laws 1983, c. 47, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1983; Laws 1986, c. 89, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1986; Laws 1988, c. 109, § 23, eff. Nov. 1, 1988; Laws 1988, c. 310, § 9, operative July 1, 1988; Laws 1993, c. 276, § 12, emerg. eff. May 27, 1993; Laws 1994, c. 290, § 50, eff. July 1, 1994; Laws 1997, c. 133, § 194, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 1999, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 5, § 109, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 2005, c. 74, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2005; Laws 2006, c. 161, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2006; Laws 2010, c. 401, § 1, eff. July 1, 2010; Laws 2025, c. 486, § 371, eff. Jan. 1, 2026. NOTE: Laws 1998, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 2, § 23 amended the effective date of Laws 1997, c. 133, § 194 from July 1, 1998, to July 1, 1999.