The Oklahoma House Rules Committee on a voice vote advanced House Bill 13-56, a measure that would make maliciously leaving a livestock gate open a misdemeanor punishable by fines and jail time. The committee adopted two amendments to the committee substitute before reporting the bill as due pass by a 9-0 vote.

Representative Harden, the bill presenter, told the committee the measure responds to a pattern of animals escaping from private acreage and posing hazards on public roads. "So what's happening, especially in my part of the world, is people are coming to a gate, going through an easement, whatever it may be. They go through the gate, they leave it open, gone for a little bit, whatever, a few minutes, and then these these the livestock gets out. Gets out on county roads, gets out on county on state highways. We've had numerous accidents, had a couple of fatalities," Harden said.

The bill as presented would treat such conduct as a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 180 days in jail, with sentencing left to the court. Harden described escalating consequences for repeat incidents and said the third incident could be proven with time-stamped trail-cam images.

During consideration the panel adopted an amendment, submitted by Representative Osborne, that changes a line in the draft from "shall" to "may" for promulgating rules. Representative Harden said the change came at the request of the secretary of agriculture. Representative Fugate sought clarification on the intent, asking, "I just wanna clarify, this is not just somebody casually leaving a gate over. This is willfully and maliciously leaving a gate open. Is that correct?" Harden confirmed that the measure targets willful or malicious conduct and that the covered areas are pastures or livestock containment.

Representative Harris offered and the committee accepted a friendly amendment to add the word "public" to a sentence stating the law's express intent, so the provision would reference protecting "farmers, livestock owners, land owners and the public." According to the clerk, the committee recorded a 9-0 voice vote and reported the bill out as "due pass."