§ 57-21. Contraband in jails or penal institutions - Penalties.

A.  Any person who, without authority, brings into or has in his or her possession in any jail or state penal institution or other place where prisoners are located, any gun, knife, bomb or other dangerous instrument, any controlled dangerous substance as defined by Section 2-101 et seq. of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, any intoxicating beverage or low-point beer as defined by Sections 163.1 and 163.2 of Title 37 of the Oklahoma Statutes, money, or financial documents for a person other than the inmate or a spouse of the inmate, including but not limited to tax returns, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, or by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

B.  If an inmate is found to be in possession of any item prohibited by this section, upon conviction, such inmate shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five (5) years nor more than twenty (20) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

C.  If the person found to be in possession of any item prohibited by this section has committed, prior to the commission of an offense in violation of this section, two or more felony offenses, and the possession of contraband in violation of this section is within ten (10) years of the completion of the execution of the sentence for any prior offense, such person, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than twenty (20) years.  Felony offenses relied upon shall not have arisen out of the same transaction or occurrence or series of events closely related in time and location.

D.  Any person who, without authority, brings into or has in his or her possession in any jail or state penal institution or other place where prisoners are located, cigarettes, cigars, snuff, chewing tobacco, or any other form of tobacco product shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one (1) year, or by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

E.  Any person who knowingly, willfully and without authority brings into or has in his or her possession in any secure area of a jail or state penal institution or other secure place where prisoners are located any cellular phone or electronic device capable of sending or receiving any electronic communication shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term not exceeding two (2) years, or by a fine not exceeding Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

F.  Any electronic communication device which has no identifiable owner and which is seized as a result of a violation of this section may be disposed of or sold by the agency that seized the device.

G.  “Electronic communication” means any transfer of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo-electronic, or photo-optical system, and includes, but is not limited to, the transfer of that communication through the Internet.

Added by Laws 1955, p. 298, § 1.  Amended by Laws 1978, c. 180, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1978; Laws 1988, c. 109, § 29, eff. Nov. 1, 1988; Laws 1992, c. 264, § 1, eff. July 1, 1992; Laws 1993, c. 48, § 1, emerg. eff. April 9, 1993; Laws 1995, c. 274, § 48, eff. Nov. 1, 1995; Laws 1997, c. 133, § 503, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 1999, 1st Ex. Sess., c. 5, § 368, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 2001, c. 325, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2001; Laws 2008, c. 366, 5, emerg. eff. June 3, 2008; Laws 2009, c. 459, § 1, emerg eff. June 2, 2009; Laws 2012, c. 93, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2012.

Note

NOTE:  Laws 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., c. 2, § 23 amended the effective date of Laws 1997, c. 133, § 503 from July 1, 1998, to July 1, 1999.