Business courts could soon be established in Oklahoma. Critics are worried.
Senate Bill 632 has seen multiple iterations and ridden a proverbial legislative roller coaster during that time, but it now has ended up on Stitt's desk, awaiting his signature. On the morning of Wednesday, May 28, the Senate approved the bill 39-7. Later in the day, the House sent the legislation to the governor's desk in a 77-12 vote.
The creation of courts designed to handle complex business litigation long has been a goal of Stitt, as he believes the existence of such courts will help make Oklahoma appear more friendly to potential businesses looking for a place to locate.
Critics have said having business courts could raise the specter of those courts providing preferential treatment to businesses over people seeking to sue them for alleged wrongdoing. They've also noted that by creating the courts, the Legislature is supporting an expansion of government, a point noted Wednesday by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, a leader of the Senate's far-right members.
Bullard asked Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus, who was presenting the bill, 'Are we growing government or shrinking it?' Howard eventually acknowledged it was growing government, and Bullard eventually voted in favor of the bill. One far-right senator, Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, joined six of the Senate's eight Democrats in voting against the bill.
The legislation would create a business court in any judicial district in Oklahoma containing a county with a population of more than 500,000 — essentially, Oklahoma and Tulsa counties. Howard said the physical location of the two courts would be worked out between the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
The salary of a business court judge will be the same as that of an associate justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Currently, that's $161,112, but a bill that's not yet been acted upon by Stitt would raise that number to $185,612.
According to an analysis by the Administrative Office of the Courts, the business court system will cost taxpayers about $2 million to establish.
Opponents of the bill have pointed out that the court system would also cost millions of dollars a year to run.
The business courts would focus on disputes regarding Oklahoma's complex business laws, including securities, trade secrets, professional malpractice, contracts, commercial property, intra-business disputes and e-commerce. Under the legislation, for an issue to be considered by the court, the amount in controversy must be $500,000 or more. The bill also would require any non-jury trial in a business court to be resolved within 12 months.
Any party can transfer a legal case into the business court if a district judge determines the business court has subject-matter jurisdiction over the case.
The bill, authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, had a long journey through the Capitol. Its stops included hearings by four committees, House amendments to the bill that were rejected by the Senate, and two conference committee reports, including one that was rejected on May 22. Members of both chambers on the conference committees agreed on the bill's final language on Tuesday, May 27.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: What is a business court? Oklahoma poised to establish with SB 632
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