Eligible relatives of Oklahoma violent-crime victims now have a legal pathway to require a fresh review of qualifying cold cases.

Senate Bill 1636, which took effect Nov. 1, gives families a formal legal pathway to request an independent review of a cold case. The law requires the agency to either assign a new detective or ask an outside agency to examine the case, KOCO reported. Law enforcement must acknowledge the request in writing within 30 days and complete the review within six months.

The Oklahoma City Police Department said it has hundreds of cold cases, according to KOCO. The law applies to all unsolved homicides and missing and unidentified persons cases, News On 6 reported.

"Families now have a voice," said Maggie Zingman, whose daughter Brittany Phillips was killed in Tulsa in 2004. The case remains unsolved. "My daughter's murder is a 22-year cold case."

Zingman has spent decades keeping her daughter's story alive. She has driven a vehicle wrapped in pictures of Brittany to 48 states, according to News On 6.

"It gives us legal standing. It means that if you request a cold case review, that the police departments, the sheriff's departments, they will have to answer to it," Zingman said.

How the law came about

The bill was co-authored by state Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Ross Ford, R-Broken Arrow. It passed unanimously in both chambers, according to an Oklahoma Senate press release. The bill was inspired by the 1987 Oklahoma State Fair murders of Cheryl Genzer and Lisa Pennington, which remain unsolved after 39 years.

Cold case advocate Dorian Quillen, who pushed for the legislation and has advocated for the Pennington and Genzer families for more than three decades, said the law fills a gap.

"In almost every other industry, when people don't get satisfactory results, they can ask for someone else to help them," Quillen said, according to KOCO. "Yet, for years, murder victims' families have been expected to sit back and just hope someone will return a phone call."

Ford, a former police officer of more than 25 years, said there was nothing worse than telling someone he didn't have an answer about what happened to their loved one, according to the Senate press release.

Scale of the problem

There is no certain way to know how many cold cases exist statewide, according to KOCO. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) reported 460 unsolved cases in its database, though a separate KOCO report and The Oklahoman put that figure at 463. Those counts reflect only cases where OSBI was asked to assist.

Greg Mashburn, the OSBI director, said part of the problem is a lack of communication between Oklahoma law enforcement agencies about cold cases, The Oklahoman reported.

"We just don't have all the information we need," Mashburn said.

What comes next

Lawmakers are considering a statewide Cold Case and Missing and Unidentified Persons Advisory and Accountability Board to ensure agencies comply with the new law. Advocates are also working on a bill for the next legislative session that would create an oversight committee and task force to document every cold case in the state, according to News On 6.

Quillen said the work is far from finished.

"We didn't pass this bill to make a bunch of good-sounding words that don't mean anything," Quillen said. "We passed it to get some of these cases resolved."

Families seeking information about requesting a cold case review can contact their local law enforcement agency or the OSBI.