§70-1210.163v2. Duty for school employees to report potential
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/ok/title-70-schools/70-1210-163v2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
student abuse or neglect.
A. Every school employee having reason to believe that a student under the age of eighteen
(18)years is a victim of abuse or neglect shall report the matter immediately to the Department of Human Services and local law enforcement. Reports to the Department shall be made to the hotline provided for in Section 1-2-101 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes. Any allegation of abuse or neglect reported in any manner to a county office shall immediately be referred to the hotline by the Department.
B. Every school employee having reason to believe that a student age eighteen
(18)years or older is a victim of abuse or neglect shall report the matter immediately to local law enforcement.
C. In reports required by subsection A or B of this section, local law enforcement shall keep confidential and redact any information identifying the reporting school employee unless otherwise ordered by the court. A school employee with knowledge of a report required by subsection A or B of this section shall not disclose information identifying the reporting school employee unless otherwise ordered by the court or as part of an investigation by local law enforcement or the Department.
D. Any superintendent or school administrator of a private school or public school district who knowingly and willfully fails to promptly report or interferes with the prompt reporting of abuse or neglect shall be subject to the penalties provided for in Section 2 of this act. As used in this subsection, "school administrator" means a principal, assistant principal, or any other person who serves in a supervisory or administrative capacity in a private school or public school district.
E. For the purposes of this section, "child abuse and neglect" shall include, but not be limited to:
1. Child abuse as defined in Section 843.5 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
2. Sexual abuse or sexual exploitation as defined in Section 1- 1-105 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes;
3. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor as defined in Section 856 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
4. Trafficking in children, as defined in Section 866 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
5. Incest as described in Section 885 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
6. Forcible sodomy, as described in Section 888 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
7. Maliciously, forcibly or fraudulently taking or enticing a child away, as described in Section 891 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
8. Soliciting or aiding a minor child to perform or showing, exhibiting, loaning or distributing obscene material or child sexual abuse material, as described in Section 1021 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
9. Procuring or causing the participation of any minor child in any child sexual abuse material or knowingly possessing, procuring or manufacturing child sexual abuse material, as described in Section 1021.2 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
10. Permitting or consenting to the participation of a minor child in any child sexual abuse material, as described in Section 1021.3 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
11. Facilitating, encouraging, offering or soliciting sexual conduct with a minor, as described in Section 1040.13a of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
12. Offering or offering to secure a minor child for the purposes of prostitution or any other lewd or indecent act, as described in Section 1087 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
13. Causing, inducing, persuading or encouraging a minor child to engage or continue to engage in prostitution, as described in Section 1088 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
14. Rape or rape by instrumentation, as described in Sections 1111.1 and 1114 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
15. Making any oral, written or electronically or computer- generated lewd or indecent proposals to a minor child under the age of sixteen
(16)as described in Section 1123 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
16. Sexual battery, when committed upon a person who is at least sixteen
(16)years of age and is less than twenty
(20)years of age and is a student, or in the legal custody or supervision of any public or private elementary or secondary school, or technology center school, by a person who is eighteen
(18)years of age or older and is an employee of a private school or public school system.
Added by Laws 2018, c. 323, § 2, eff. July 1, 2018. Amended by Laws 2019, c. 415, § 2, eff. July 1, 2019; Laws 2024, c. 59, § 46, eff. Nov. 1, 2024; Laws 2025, c. 260, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2025.