HB 2647 Oklahoma House · 2026 Regular Session

Children; Shai Cooper Act; adoption; updating reference; providing this section apply to immediate relatives; effective date.

HB 2647, the Shai Cooper Act, updates Oklahoma's adoption law to allow courts to waive home study requirements for certain family adoptions. It specifically applies to immediate relatives (brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, or uncles) seeking to adopt a child, provided the court finds the waiver is in the child's best interest and the petitioner has no felony or child-related abuse convictions. The bill requires courts to verify the petitioner has been married to the child's parent (if applicable) for at least one year or meets specific conditions for single relatives. This change streamlines adoptions within close family circles while maintaining safety checks, but does not affect foster or non-relative adoptions, which still require full home studies. The law took effect November 1, 2025.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

May 2025

Signed into Law

May 2025

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Signed May 12, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 6 comparisons

What changed between versions

Floor (House) → Floor (Senate) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to clarify that it applies only to immediate relatives and to add a 'noncodification' provision, ensuring the law does not get added to the permanent statutes if the bill fails. The committee reporting details were also updated to reflect the Senate's version of the bill.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed to explicitly apply only to immediate relatives, and a provision was added to prevent the bill from being codified into permanent law if it does not pass the full legislative process.

ELIGIBILITY

The bill text was updated to clarify that the new section applies specifically to immediate relatives.

REQUIREMENT

A new provision was added stating that the act shall not be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes if the bill does not become law.

TECHNICAL

The committee report header was changed from the House Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight Committee to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the effective date was updated to April 22, 2025.

Floor votes · Senate May 1, 2025 · House Mar 12, 2025

How they voted

47–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 49

May 1, 2025

D Democratic9

9 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican40

38 Yea 2

95% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 1, 2025

Committee

Referred for enrollment

lower

May 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Engrossed measure signed, returned to House

upper

May 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Measure passed: Ayes: 45 Nays: 0

upper

Apr 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported Do Pass Judiciary committee; CR filed

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Engrossed, signed, to Senate

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Committee

Referred for engrossment

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Third Reading, Measure passed: Ayes: 86 Nays: 0

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Amended

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

CR; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight Committee

lower

Feb 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Policy recommendation to the Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight committee; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Civil Judiciary

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

Referred to Civil Judiciary

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight

lower

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors