§ 57-21 — Contraband in jails or penal institutions - Penalties.

Oklahoma § 57-21

• Jurisdiction: Oklahoma
• Title 57: Prisons And Reformatories

Text

A. Any person who, without authority, brings into or has in his or her possession in any jail or state penal institution or other place where prisoners are located, any gun, knife, bomb or other dangerous instrument, any controlled dangerous substance as defined by the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, any alcoholic beverage as defined by Section 1-103 of Title 37A of the Oklahoma Statutes, money or financial documents for a person other than the inmate or a spouse of the inmate, including but not limited to tax returns, shall be guilty of a Class B3 felony offense and, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, or by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment. Provided, the provisions of this subsection shall not prohibit any Department of Corrections employee who has a valid handgun license pursuant to the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act to keep a firearm in a vehicle on any property set aside for the parking of any vehicle, whether occupied or unoccupied, at any state-owned prison facility, provided the employee has provided annual notification to the Department of Corrections of the brand name, model, serial number, and owner identification information of the firearm, and the firearm is secured and stored in a locked metal storage container located in a locked vehicle. The storage container will be secured in the vehicle by a lockable chain or cable or by utilizing hardware provided by the manufacturer. B. If an inmate is found to be in possession of any item prohibited by this section, upon conviction, such inmate shall be guilty of a Class D1 felony offense and shall be punished by imprisonment as provided for in subsections B through F of Section 20N of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes. C. If the person found to be in possession of any item prohibited by this section has committed, prior to the commission of an offense in violation of this section, two or more felony offenses, and the possession of contraband in violation of this section is within ten (10) years of the completion of the execution of the sentence for any prior offense, such person, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than twenty (20) years. Felony offenses relied upon shall not have arisen out of the same transaction or occurrence or series of events closely related in time and location. D. Any person who, without authority, brings into or has in his or her possession in any jail or state penal institution or other place where prisoners are located, cigarettes, cigars, snuff, chewing tobacco or any other form of tobacco product shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one (1) year, or by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment. E. Any person who knowingly, willfully and without authority brings into or has in his or her possession in any secure area of a jail or state penal institution or other secure place where prisoners are located any cellular phone or electronic device capable of sending or receiving any electronic communication shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a Class D1 felony offense punishable by imprisonment as provided for in subsections B through F of Section 20N of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or by a fine not exceeding Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment. F. Any contraband item prohibited by the provisions of this section that is seized as a result of a violation of this section may be forfeited by the agency that seized the contraband item following the procedures outlined in Section 2-506 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes. G. "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo-electronic or photo-optical system, and includes, but is not limited to, the transfer of that communication through the Internet.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 1955, p. 298, § 1. Amended by Laws 1978, c. 180, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1978; Laws 1988, c. 109, § 29, eff. Nov. 1, 1988; Laws 1992, c. 264, § 1, eff. July 1, 1992; Laws 1993, c. 48, § 1, emerg. eff. April 9, 1993; Laws 1995, c. 274, § 48, eff. Nov. 1, 1995; Laws 1997, c. 133, § 503, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 1999, 1st Ex. Sess., c. 5, § 368, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 2001, c. 325, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2001; Laws 2008, c. 366, 5, emerg. eff. June 3, 2008; Laws 2009, c. 459, § 1, emerg. eff. June 2, 2009; Laws 2012, c. 93, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2012; Laws 2015, c. 226, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2015; Laws 2021, c. 21, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2021; Laws 2025, c. 486, § 95, eff. Jan. 1, 2026. NOTE: Laws 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., c. 2, § 23 amended the effective date of Laws 1997, c. 133, § 503 from July 1, 1998, to July 1, 1999.