Committee rejects bill that would require counties to offer credit-card payments, public notaries and standardized forms

Senate/House Bill 1767 failed in the Local and County Government Committee by a 4-5 vote after an extended floor-style discussion about implementation costs and legal risks. The bill would have required counties to offer a credit-card payment option, permit county employees to serve as public notaries, and implement standardized county forms, with an implementation date for standardized forms set at Jan. 1, 2027.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Fricks, said the measure aims to make county government more accessible and standardize certain services across Oklahoma’s 77 counties. "These sections are shalls as they are currently written," Fricks said while acknowledging some counties had raised concerns about standardized forms and that he had struck the bill’s title to allow further work on that section.

Why it mattered: Committee members said the credit-card and notary provisions could help constituents who no longer carry cash, but many senators expressed concerns about the breadth of the mandate, the legal exposure of county employees, practical staffing and training costs, and whether one standardized set of forms could cover the many different county processes and case types.

Key points from debate included whether counties currently have authority to accept credit-card payments (some do, some do not), whether counties would be required to absorb notary training and licensing costs (the sponsor said counties already employ notaries for internal business, but costs from recent deed-theft-related rule changes might increase), and which agency currently provides forms (the tax commission was cited as one current source but the sponsor said multiple sources may supply forms). The transcript notes the attorney general's office had been expected to standardize forms and requested until Jan. 1, 2027, to complete them; the sponsor said he would work with counties on the form language.

Procedural actions: Senator Fricks moved to strike the bill’s title by unanimous consent earlier in the hearing; that motion was granted without objection. Later, the committee chair moved a do-pass recommendation; Senator Saccieri seconded. After debate, the roll call produced four ayes and five nays and the chair declared House Bill 1767 failed.

The sponsor repeatedly said he would work with county officials and other senators to revise language; the transcript records no final amendments in committee and no formal referral for a refiled bill. The record indicates substantive implementation questions remain unresolved, including training and licensing costs for notaries, which were discussed but not quantified in committee.