Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 10A-1-8-102: Court-appointed special advocate – Education and

training – Criminal history search – Civil liability immunity.

A. Any court-appointed special advocate (CASA) available for

appointment pursuant to the Oklahoma Children's Code or the Oklahoma

Juvenile Code shall complete education and training courses in

accordance with national and Oklahoma CASA standards.

B. No court-appointed special advocate shall be assigned a case

before:

1. Completing a training program in compliance with nationally

documented Court-Appointed Special Advocate standards.

Documentation of training shall be submitted annually by local

court-appointed special advocate programs to the Oklahoma Court-

Appointed Special Advocate Association; and

2. Being approved by the local court-appointed special advocate

program, which will include appropriate criminal background checks

as provided in subsection C of this section.

C. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each local

court-appointed special advocate program shall require for any

person making application to become a court-appointed special

advocate volunteer or to be employed by the local court-appointed

special advocate program:

a. a child welfare records search conducted by the

Department of Human Services, which shall consist of a

search of the Child Abuse and Neglect Information

System maintained by the Department of Human Services

for review by authorized entities,

b. a criminal history records search conducted by the

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and

c. any other background check meeting the requirements as

set forth in Oklahoma Court-Appointed Special Advocate

Association state or national standards for local

programs.

2. If the prospective court-appointed special advocate

volunteer or employee of the local court-appointed special advocate

program has lived in Oklahoma for less than one (1) year, a criminal

history records search shall also be obtained from the criminal

history state repository of the previous state of residence.

D. 1. Any person participating in a judicial proceeding as a

court-appointed special advocate shall be presumed prima facie to be

acting in good faith and in so doing shall be immune from any civil

liability that otherwise might be incurred or imposed.

2. Any person serving in a management position of a court-

appointed special advocate organization, including a member of the

Board of Directors acting in good faith, shall be immune from any

civil liability or any vicarious liability for the negligence of any

court-appointed special advocate organization advocates, managers,

or directors.