Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics details marijuana‑enforcement results and seeks legacy capital funding for new headquarters

Donnie Anderson, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN), told the Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary that the bureau has reduced illegal commercial marijuana grows, bolstered multiagency task forces and training, and is asking the committee to approve repayment of legacy capital funds to build a consolidated headquarters and bulk evidence facility.

Anderson said OBN’s marijuana enforcement teams removed “approximately 3,000 illegal grow operations in just fiscal year of ’24” and that, “since inception, the program… has seized over 1,400,000 marijuana plants.” He told members OBN now oversees more than 26,300 registrants and has reduced the number of commercial grow operations by several thousand from a high point a few years ago.

The agency described a multi‑pronged enforcement posture: administrative and civil investigations combined with criminal enforcement, task‑force partnerships with local law enforcement and federal partners, and an expanded footprint into rural areas through the assignment of task‑force officers. Anderson said OBN currently has 25 task‑force officers assigned to 11 divisions and that partnering agencies (county sheriffs, county commissioners and the National Guard for large extraction operations) provide manpower and equipment for large removal events.

OBN reported substantial training output: the bureau provided hundreds of classes last year (more than 475 classes, about 3,258 training hours), training 4,618 law‑enforcement officers at low or no cost, as authorized by state statute. Anderson also flagged language and cross‑border challenges tied to international trafficking networks and said the bureau is working to expand translation capacity and intelligence coordination.

On capital needs, Anderson described plans for a new headquarters campus to consolidate four current Oklahoma City‑area locations, increase secure evidence storage, and reduce recurring leased storage costs. He said the Department of Corrections donated land for the project and that OBN estimates construction costs at about $38,000,000; OBN plans to apply $10,000,000 and request repayment from the legacy capital fund for the remaining $28,000,000. Anderson said the bureau would seek to sell its current headquarters and use proceeds to help reimburse the legacy fund.

OBN also told the committee it faces rising bulk‑storage rental costs — a leased storage bill that Anderson said rose to about $200,000 per year and recently increased by another $40,000 to roughly $240,000 — and asked the subcommittee to consider the legacy capital repayment as a way to reduce long‑term recurring costs. He said the bureau has roughly 203 FTEs, about 20 current vacancies, and when fully staffed operates roughly 159 commissioned agents across the state (including task‑force personnel). Anderson concluded by saying the bureau will absorb a 2% budget cut if required but prefers capital repayment to reduce recurring lease and storage costs.

No formal appropriation or vote took place at the hearing; this was a presentation and funding request to the subcommittee.