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Monday, Jan. 19, 2026 • Cold, cloudy, mid-30s. ☁️ If you’re headed to an MLK Day parade today, bundle up!
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In today’s Memo:
📵 Oklahoma lawmakers move to make school cellphone ban permanent
• After a trial year, lawmakers say the bell-to-bell ban should be here to stay.
🏠 Lawmakers revisit eviction rules as filings stay high
• Bills would slow eviction timelines by excluding weekends and holidays.
🎙️ Conversation with John Croisant: What Washington’s chaos is costing Oklahoma
• Croisant argues national dysfunction is already hitting Oklahoma wallets and jobs.
TOP STORY:
Oklahoma lawmakers to pursue permanent school cellphone ban
A poster reads, "bell to bell, no cell" at the Jenks Public Schools Math and Science Center on Nov. 13, 2024. All Oklahoma public schools are under a yearlong ban on student cellphone use from the morning bell until dismissal. (PHOTO by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Rep. Chad Caldwell’s tagline last session when passing a one-year statewide cellphone ban in schools was “try it before you buy it.”
Now, Caldwell, R-Enid, and the law’s Senate author, Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, are ready to buy. Both have filed bills that would permanently ban student cellphone use during the school day.
“I think the reason we got to that is because it’s been clear from our educators and from our parents and communities that they want the state to buy it,” Caldwell said. “I think it’s been well received, and it just, to me, makes sense to make that change permanent.”
Caldwell and Seifried said they’ve received an overwhelmingly positive response to the policy, which bars students in public schools from using their cellphones from the morning bell until dismissal.
Lawmakers seek balance in Oklahoma’s Landlord-Tenant Act
Sen. Julia Kirt is one of a handful of legislators who proposed bills seeking to amend Oklahoma’s Landlord Tenant Act, after eviction filings have steadied over the 45,000 mark for the past four years. (Photo & Illustration by Jake Ramsey/Oklahoma Watch)
By Jake Ramsey, Oklahoma Watch
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Oklahoma had more than 45,000 evictions filed in each of the past four years, which critics blame on the weakness of the state’s Landlord-Tenant Act. However, a set of new bills has been proposed for the 2026 legislative session to amend the law and better support renters.
Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, drafted Senate Bill 1209, which would exclude weekends and holidays from Oklahoma’s eviction timeline, aligning the eviction docket with other civil procedures that exclude weekends and holidays.
“It’s specifically to exclude weekends and holidays from the timeline,” Kirt said. “That’s true for all types of civil procedure, but currently, the Landlord Tenant Act is excluded from that, so it has its own timelines. Rather than changing the Landlord Tenant Act, what we want to do is just remove that exclusion so that it is following civil procedure.”
Quick national links:
Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.
At least 21 killed, 100 injured after high-speed train collision in Spain: Officials (ABC News)
GOP Rep. McCaul says a US invasion of Greenland would mean 'war with NATO itself' (ABC News)
Europe may have reached its breaking point with Trump over Greenland tariffs (NBC News)
Trump says 8 European nations face tariffs rising to 25% if Greenland isn’t sold to the U.S. (CNBC)
EU considers retaliatory measures over Trump Greenland tariff ‘blackmail’ (The Guardian)
1,500 active-duty soldiers placed on standby for possible deployment to Minneapolis (CBS News)
Leavitt told CBS News that Trump would sue if his interview was cut short on air: Reports (The Hill)
The Oklahoma Rundown 📰
Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.
A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:
• Full slate of events to bring community together for MLK Day (Oklahoma City Free Press)
• 'Harmony and peace': Tulsans prepare for annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day parade (KJRH)
• NAACP chairman to speak at Cameron University MLK Day celebration (KSWO)
• The day MLK came to Tulsa: 'We must all live together as brothers or we will die together as fools (Tulsa World)*
• OK Supreme Court ‘rubber stamps’ denial, rules OU misconduct reports privileged (NonDoc)
• Oklahoma legislator challenges AI-driven surveillance pricing (The Journal-Record)
• At least 6 dead in “shooting, suspicious” incidents across OKC metro (KOCO)
• 1 dead in shooting at Lawton motel (The Lawton Constitution)
• Bryan County law enforcement searching for fugitive following hostage situation (KXII)
• Child care providers concerned as DHS reduces subsidies (Tulsa World)*
• Resistance Caravan: Community members gather to spread awareness on major issues (2 News Oklahoma)
• MacKenzie Scott gave $165 million to small Oklahoma colleges. How will it change them? (The Oklahoman)*
• Duncan approves rate increase for lake cabin leases (The Lawton Constitution)
• Father, son killed in rollover crash in Owasso (Tulsa World)*
• At Tulsa-area Native American church, Sunday service means singing in four languages (Tulsa Flyer)
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Conversation with Croisant: What Washington’s chaos is costing Oklahoma
The most revealing political conversations aren’t about ideology — they’re about consequences.
In this week’s Oklahoma Memo Podcast, Democratic congressional candidate John Croisant talks through what many Oklahomans are feeling but don’t always see clearly articulated: political chaos has real costs.
We discussed immigration enforcement tactics, including recent ICE activity, and why actions in Minnesota are relevant to Oklahoma communities with deep immigrant roots. We talked about health-care affordability and what happens if ACA subsidies lapse — a move that could raise monthly costs by hundreds or even thousands of dollars for families across the state.
We also examined why the long-promised manufacturing boom hasn’t materialized, how tariffs have injected uncertainty into investment decisions, and why foreign-policy moves involving Venezuela and Greenland raise serious questions about stability and America’s role in the world.
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