Chapter 40: Oklahoma Evidence Code · Last amended November 1, 2021 · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2506.2 makes communications in peer support counseling sessions for law enforcement and emergency services personnel confidential and inadmissible in any proceeding, with exceptions for suicide or homicide threats, mandatory-report abuse, and admissions of criminal conduct.
1."Emergency services provider" means any public employer that employs persons to provide firefighting services;
2."Emergency services personnel" means any employee of an emergency services provider who is engaged in providing firefighting services;
3."Employee assistance program" means a program established by a law enforcement agency or emergency services provider to provide counseling or support services to employees of the law enforcement agency or emergency services provider;
4."Law enforcement agency" means any county sheriff, municipal police department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and any state or local public body that employs public safety personnel;
5."Public safety personnel" means a sheriff, deputy sheriff, municipal police officer, state police officer, parole and probation officer, corrections employee, certified reserve officer, telecommunicator or emergency medical dispatcher; and
6."Peer support counseling sessions" means critical incident stress management sessions for public safety or emergency services personnel who have been involved in emotionally traumatic incidents by reason of their employment. The sessions may include participation of the immediate family of the public safety or emergency services personnel.
B.Any communication made by a participant or counselor in a peer support counseling session conducted by a law enforcement agency or by an emergency services provider for public safety personnel or emergency services personnel, and any oral or written information conveyed in the peer support counseling session, is confidential and may not be disclosed by any person participating in the peer support counseling session.
C.Any communication relating to a peer support counseling session made confidential under subsection B of this section that is made between counselors, between counselors and the supervisors or staff of an employee assistance program, or between the supervisors or staff of an employee assistance program, is confidential and may not be disclosed.
D.The provisions of this section apply only to peer support counseling sessions conducted by an employee or other person who:
1.Has been designated by a law enforcement agency or emergency services provider, or by an employee assistance program, to act as a counselor; and
2.Has received training in counseling and in providing emotional and moral support to public safety personnel or emergency services personnel who have been involved in emotionally traumatic incidents by reason of their employment.
E.The provisions of this section apply to all oral communications, notes, records and reports arising out of a peer support counseling session. Any notes, records or reports arising out of a peer support counseling session are not public records for the purposes of Sections 24A.1 through 24A.29 of Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
F.Any communication made by a participant or counselor in a peer support counseling session subject to this section, and any oral or written information conveyed in a peer support counseling session subject to this section, is not admissible in any judicial proceeding, administrative proceeding, arbitration proceeding or other adjudicatory proceeding. Communications and information made confidential under this section shall not be disclosed by the participants in any judicial proceeding, administrative proceeding, arbitration proceeding, or other adjudicatory proceeding. The limitations on disclosure imposed by this subsection include disclosure during any discovery conducted as part of an adjudicatory proceeding.
G.Nothing in this section limits the discovery or introduction in evidence of knowledge acquired by any public safety personnel or emergency services personnel from observation made during the course of employment, or material or information acquired during the course of employment, that is otherwise subject to discovery or introduction in evidence.
1.Any threat of suicide or homicide made by a participant in a peer support counseling session, or any information conveyed in a peer support counseling session relating to a threat of suicide or homicide;
2.Any information relating to abuse of children or of the elderly, or other information that is required to be reported by law;
I.This section shall not prohibit any communications between counselors who conduct peer support counseling sessions, or any communications between counselors and the supervisors or staff of an employee assistance program.
Amendment History
Amended by Laws 2021, c. 281, s. 1, eff. 11/1/2021.
Added by Laws 2008, HB 1460, c. 135, §1, eff. 11/1/2008.
Plain-English Summary
This section protects "critical incident stress management" sessions that help police officers, deputies, corrections employees, dispatchers, and firefighters cope with emotionally traumatic incidents on the job -- sessions that can include the employee's immediate family. Communications made during those sessions, and related communications between counselors or an employee assistance program's staff, are confidential. The protection only applies to sessions run by someone a law enforcement agency, emergency services provider, or employee assistance program has designated and trained as a counselor.
Subsection F makes protected communications inadmissible in any judicial, administrative, arbitration, or other adjudicatory proceeding, and that bar extends to discovery. Records generated from a session aren't public records under Oklahoma's Open Records Act. None of this, though, blocks discovery of what an officer or firefighter independently observed or learned on the job. And subsection H carves out four exceptions regardless of confidentiality: threats of suicide or homicide, information about child or elder abuse or other legally mandated reports, admissions of criminal conduct, and admissions of a plan to commit a crime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who's covered by Oklahoma's peer support counseling privilege?
Public safety personnel -- sheriffs, deputies, municipal and state police, parole and probation officers, corrections employees, and dispatchers -- along with emergency services personnel who provide firefighting services, plus their immediate family when included in a session.
Can these communications be used in a lawsuit's discovery process?
No. Section 2506.2(F) expressly extends the bar on disclosure to discovery conducted as part of any adjudicatory proceeding.
Does this privilege protect a threat to commit suicide or homicide made during a session?
No. Section 2506.2(H)(1) excludes threats of suicide or homicide from the confidentiality protection.
Are peer support counseling records public records?
No. Section 2506.2(E) says notes, records, and reports from these sessions aren't public records under Sections 24A.1 through 24A.29 of Title 51.
Does the privilege stop a firefighter's own on-the-job observations from being used as evidence?
No. Section 2506.2(G) preserves discovery and admission of anything the employee independently observed or learned in the course of employment.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes, enacted by the Oklahoma Legislature.
Last verified August 3, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:oklahoma peer support counseling privilegecritical incident stress management confidentialityfirst responder counseling privilege oklahoma12 O.S. § 2506.2