Oklahoma makes repeat secret watching a felony and adds recording offenses

A second or later offense of secretly watching someone in a private setting is a felony. This covers watching near a home or another place where a person reasonably expects privacy. The watching must be done willfully and unlawfully, with intent to look at someone secretly. The change takes effect November 1, 2026.

Secretly using photographic, electronic, or video equipment in specified circumstances is a Class B5 felony. The private-body-area rule applies whether the person is in a public or private place, when a reasonable person would believe the area would not be visible to the public. The term includes genitals, the pubic area, buttocks, and part of a female breast’s areola. The person must intend to view someone without their knowledge and consent where they reasonably expect privacy, or publish or share an image obtained that way. Capturing an image of someone’s private body area without consent is a felony for a second or later offense, or when the conduct involves three or more victims in the same act or series of acts. A first offense involving that conduct remains a misdemeanor. The changes take effect November 1, 2026.

The Sex Offenders Registration Act applies to people convicted of specified offenses involving secret watching or recording. The listed offenses include specified secret watching and recording offenses. The rules cover people who live, work, or attend school in Oklahoma, including some people with qualifying out-of-state or other-jurisdiction cases. The registration rules also cover qualifying convictions, sentences, or deferred judgments from other jurisdictions when the offense would match a listed Oklahoma offense. Registration does not apply to a qualifying person while incarcerated in a maximum or medium Department of Corrections facility, where the statute provides that exception. The changes take effect November 1, 2026.