Journalist: Heidi Hampton (TU)
Bill TU-507 called Animal Cruelty Offender Registry written by University of Tulsa House delegate, was heard in the House on Thursday April 16th, 2026, and today Friday April 17th, 2026, the bill was heard in the Senate. The bill passed the House yesterday with a vote of 41-40, and today in the Senate with a vote of 13 affirmative votes, 9 negative votes, and nine abstentions.
When the bill was seen in the House it resulted in a tied vote. When seen in the Senate the bill did not tie, but rather moved to debate.
Walking around the room before the debate while the Senators were caucusing, a wide variety of opinions was heard. One senator stated they thought the bill was a good idea to help increase transparency. Another Senator worried about what would be defined as abuse. Another senator stated they cannot see a negative aspect of the bill, and the bill will help protect both people and animals.
During the debate five senators argued for the opponency while three argued for the proponency.
The opponceny primarily argued they think creating a list of offenders would not deter people from abusing animals. They also thought the list was redundant because people are already able to see if people have been convicted of felonies.
The proponency, however, argued that deterring people from abusing animals is not necessarily the point of creating the list. The proponency said lists such as the sex offender and violent offender lists do not deter people from committing crimes but they make it transparent and easy to access that information. They also argued that finding criminal records is not always an easy thing to do, but this list would help solve that problem in the instance of animal abuse.
Both sides agreed protection of animals is important. When the debate finished the Senate body voted in favor of passing the bill.