Broken Arrow lawmaker tells police they can’t detain him, cites Oklahoma Constitution

Body cam video of a Broken Arrow lawmaker’s arrest on a complaint of public intoxication went viral over the weekend, and possibly because the suspect has a history of both getting arrested, and trying to pull strings to avoid consequences.

When Rep. Dean Davis (R-Broken Arrow) was arrested in August of 2019, he made several phone calls from the Broken Arrow city jail, calls he knew were being recorded - and which became public.

Eventually, he pleaded no contest and got a six-month deferred sentence for DUI.His probation on that conviction ended March 3 of 2023, just twenty days before his most recent arrest.

According to an arrest affidavit, Davis was with a group of people still drinking at a Bricktown establishment after 2:00 a.m. Thurday.

Officers say they told the group they had to leave, but Davis refused and became argumentative.

He told them they could not detain him, and showed them a card which had a passage of the Oklahoma Constitution printed on it.

That statute (Section V-22: Privileges - Arrest - Speeches or debates) reads as follows:

Senators and Representatives shall, except for treason, felony,

or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the

session of the Legislature, and in going to and returning from

the same, and, for any speech or debate in either House, shall

not be questioned in any other place.

—  Oklahoma Constitution, Section V-22: Privileges - Arrest - Speeches or debates.

The officer explained that he was not sitting in legislature, and was not in the state capitol, and while he agreed to check with his supervisor, the arrest was made and Davis was booked on a misdemeanor complaint of public drunkenness.

He appeared on the floor of the House the next day, saying that he denied any wrongdoing, and apologizing to his fellow members for the distraction.