A state-owned, privately funded Ten Commandments monument sits on OCPA grounds after being removed from the Capitol. (Photo by Barbara Hoberock/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The fight over a Ten Commandments monument at the Capitol may not be over.
Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, has filed Senate Bill 1858 that would place privately funded Ten Commandments monuments inside and outside the Capitol “as a symbol of its historical significance for Oklahoman and American history.”
The measure states the monument, once placed, shall not be removed without a vote of three-fourths of the Legislature and approval of the governor.
The action comes after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the state must remove its Ten Commandments monument from Capitol grounds because it was religious in nature and violated the Oklahoma Constitution’s prohibition on using state funds or property to promote religion.
The privately funded 6-foot-tall, 2,000-pound red granite monument was removed in 2015 from the north side of the Capitol and taken to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, which has an office just south of the Capitol. It remains on display there.