Oklahoma Senator renews push for Domestic Violence Registry following fatal Collinsville case

Collinsville domestic violence case sparks renewed push for registry.

Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, said the recent domestic violence death of Amber Pippin in Collinsville underscores the need for stronger protections for victims and greater public awareness of offenders.

“What happened in Collinsville is very, very tragic,” Coleman said. “A woman by the name of Amber Pippin, who’s a mother of seven children, got into an argument with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend then ran her over in the QuikTrip parking lot, and that resulted in a fatality.”

Coleman said the case highlights Oklahoma’s ongoing struggle with domestic violence.

“Oklahoma is one of the leading states in domestic violence fatalities,” Coleman said. “I want to keep running bills as long as I’m in the Senate to help curb domestic violence in the state of Oklahoma.”

Amber Pippin

Coleman said he plans to work with Sen. Christi Gillespie and Rep. Ross Ford to revive legislation creating a domestic violence offender registry after a similar bill failed to advance in the Senate last session.

“It passed the House, but it did not get a hearing in the Senate,” Coleman said. “We’ll just refile it and run it again next year.”

The proposal would be modeled after Tennessee’s “Savannah’s Law,” which created the nation’s first domestic violence registry.

“The way it works in Tennessee is very similar to a sex offender registry,” Coleman said. “You can type in a county, and it will appear people that have had a domestic violence conviction of a violent nature.”

Coleman said details of the Oklahoma proposal are still being developed.

“I want to work with Representative Ford and Senator Gillespie to make sure that we get this done right and get it across the finish line,” he said.

Coleman said lawmakers have a responsibility to respond when high-profile cases reveal gaps in public safety.

“I think it’s very, very important,” Coleman said. “I think we have to act, and we have to keep acting and keep doing things to help curb that.”

He believes a registry would make it easier for people to identify offenders with serious domestic violence histories.

“You go to the county, and poof, up comes the list of people who’ve had some egregious domestic violence convictions in the past,” Coleman said.

Beyond convicted offenders, Coleman said he is considering whether suspects charged with domestic violence offenses could legally be included in some form.

“In some cases, the victim fails to testify and the offender goes free,” Coleman said. “That’s something else I would be looking into — the legality of that.”

Coleman pointed to two domestic violence bills he successfully passed last session.

One created a felony offense for committing domestic violence in the presence of a child.

“The statistics are staggering,” Coleman said. “A male is 10 times more likely to be an offender, and a female is seven times more likely to be a victim if they witness domestic violence as children.”

He said the law is intended to reduce the long-term cycle of abuse.

“The children don’t need to see that,” Coleman said. “They see that, and they think it becomes a part of everyday life.”

Coleman also highlighted legislation requiring electronic monitoring for offenders convicted of severe domestic violence crimes, including strangulation and cases involving serious injuries.

The monitoring system is designed to notify both law enforcement and victims when an offender enters a designated area near a victim’s home or workplace.

“The purpose of the ankle monitor was to let law enforcement know when the offender comes within a certain distance of the victim’s home or work,” Coleman said.

He believes those alerts could provide critical time for victims to seek safety.

“I think that could be a lifesaver if we could give somebody a couple of minutes warning that their offender was nearby,” he said.

Coleman said a public registry could become another tool for individuals evaluating personal relationships and protecting themselves from potential danger.

“If you’re a single person, either male or female, and you think you want to date a person, look this up and see if they have a history of domestic violence,” Coleman said. “That should give you a warning.”

Reflecting on the Collinsville case, Coleman said warning signs sometimes come too late.

“It’s my understanding that the mother of seven was getting warned by her friends, but it was too late, unfortunately,” Coleman said. “It’s something we have to take very, very seriously in the state of Oklahoma.”