Cockfighting bill status
Friday, May 23rd 2003, 12:00 am
By: News On 6
(Oklahoma City-AP) -- The state senate adjourned Thursday without taking up a bill that would reduce the penalty for cockfighting.
Senator Frank Shurden of Henryetta had planned to bring the bill up again.
Shurden's bill failed Monday on a vote of 23-to-15.
25 votes are needed for passage in the Senate.
The bill would reduce the penalty for a first-offense cockfighting conviction from a felony with up to one year in prison to a misdemeanor with up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
Shurden says most Oklahomans believe the penalties in the cockfighting ban approved by voters last year are too severe.
