Oklahoma lawmaker proposes bill allowing kidnapping charges for DHS workers

Oklahoma House Representative Gabe Woolley has written a bill that says DHS workers can be charged with kidnapping.

He says it's about DHS accountability. Gabe is the son of Bill and Lisa Woolley.

Who is Bill and Lisa Woolley? 

Bill and Lisa were charged with the murder of their 14-month-old grandson, Elijah Woolley.

Those charges were dropped in 2021, but prosecutors say the case is still open and charges can be refiled.

In 2018, Elijah's older brother was removed from Bill and Lisa's custody and a judge placed him permanently with a guardian and he's not to have any contact with the Woolleys.

What is Oklahoma House Bill 1100?

House Bill 1100 says a DHS worker can be charged with kidnapping if a child isn't returned based on a court order. 

It adds if the court fails to conduct a review hearing at least once every six months from the date of the child's removal from the home, pursuant to subsection A of this section, the child shall be released to the custody of the child's parent, legal guardian, custodian from whom the child was removed. 

Any employee of the Department who fails to comply with this section shall be guilty of a felony upon conviction.

It also changes wording to make it tougher to remove children from a home. It changes the word preponderance to clear and convincing. 

Rep. Gabe Woolley, House District 98:

"This would be a situation where a judge has deemed there is no clear convincing evidence, maybe charges were dropped or dismissed only because there's no clear and convincing evidence, charges are typically dropped if there's no evidence to keep criminal charges going, so if there's no criminal charges pending and there's no clear and convincing evidence, how can you treat someone as guilty and then they would have to fight to prove their innocence."

Representative Tim Turner, House District 15 was the Sheriff of Haskell County for more than 22 decades before becoming a lawmaker.

"In 22 years you know I can't tell you a time that if a judge has ordered a child to be returned back where a child hasn't been returned back," he said.

What is the difference between preponderance to clear and convincing? 

Legal experts say under the preponderance standard, the burden of proof is met when the party with the burden convinces the fact finder that there is a greater than 50% chance that the claim is true. 

Clear and convincing is a medium-level burden of proof that must be met for certain convictions. This standard is more rigorous to meet than preponderance of the evidence standard, but less rigorous standard to meet than proving evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.

Why did Rep. Gabe Woolley make House Bill 1100? 

Woolley says this is to bring accountability to DHS, and he's heard other similar stories. 

"I would say that my family's experience was the wake-up call to realizing that this was probably going on needing some accountability and I was maybe just ignorant to it before, and it really hit home with my family's experience, yes," said Woolley.

What is the opposition to this bill?

Rep. Turner says this bill sends a message to DHS workers that legislators don't have their backs.

"The workers are doing what there ordered by policy and the workers are doing what they're ordered by the courts to do and if at that point if we're going to start charging workers with kidnapping pursuant to a court order then we got a lot bigger problems in Oklahoma," said Turner.

Turner also believes the wording in the bill is vague, when it says a DHS employee can be charged for kidnapping. 

"So are we talking about the supervisor, are we talking about the director of DHS, are we talking about workers with boots on the ground, if that's the case then we're not going to have DHS workers in Oklahoma, and if our position is to abolish DHS then we got bigger problems than that," said Turner.

Turner says the way to improve DHS is through policies, not laws like this. 

How did DHS respond?

DHS won't comment on pending legislation.

What's next?

The legislative session starts on Feb. 3, 2025.