Rep. John George, R-Newalla, this week unanimously passed a bill in the House that would add domestic violence by strangulation to the list of crimes requiring a person to serve 85% of a prison sentence before being eligible for consideration for parole. If enacted, House Bill 3264 would prohibit those convicted from being eligible to receive earned credits toward reducing the length of their sentence to less than 85%.

“Strangling an intimate partner is among the most horrific acts of violence and can all too often be deadly,” George said. “Yet people convicted of this crime, in many cases, currently only have to serve about a third of any sentence imposed. This legislation would strengthen Oklahoma laws so that anyone committing this type of aggravated assault would be subject to greater punishment.”

The bill matches a recommendation of the Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board. Research shows that strangulation is one of the most common forms of domestic assault and battery and also one of the most fatal. Victims can lose consciousness in less than 10 seconds and can die within minutes. Strangulation victims are more likely to die than victims of other types of domestic assault and battery. Victims who have been strangled are 750% more likely to be killed by the same person. Even if a person survives being strangled, there are short- and long-term physical effects, including memory loss, headaches, seizures, strokes, blood clots, even delayed death.

In addition, George said Oklahoma has consistently ranked among the top 10 states of women murdered by men in single-victim, single-offender homicides.

Despite the seriousness of the crime, domestic violence by strangulation is not yet considered a violent crime that requires an offender to serve at least 85% of their sentence before being considered for release.

“We’re talking about taking someone’s very breath away – the essence of their life,” George said. “All I’m asking is for the punishment to fit the crime.”

HB3264 passed the House on a vote of 890. It has been engrossed to the Senate where it is authored by Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond.