Oregon law forces faster warrant compliance in stalking, domestic violence cases

Social media companies in Oregon must now answer certain stalking and domestic-violence search warrants within 72 hours, a deadline supporters say could turn digital evidence from a delayed paper trail into an active safety tool.

House Bill 4045, known as Kristil’s Law, took effect Friday and sets a five-business-day deadline for other communications providers when a warrant is tied to stalking or a crime constituting domestic violence. Oregon lawmakers delayed operation until May 1, 2026 so companies could prepare, even as the measure declared an emergency and became law earlier. Legislative records say the state created a judicial process to flag the warrants for immediate handling, and the final version shifted the burden to the applicant to identify when the accelerated response rules apply.

The bill was inspired by the killing of Kristil Krug, a Colorado mother and chemical engineer who was murdered on December 14, 2023, after months of stalking and deceptive digital harassment. Supporters said Krug had been stalked for about two months, and legislative materials say the harassment involved a man posing as an ex-boyfriend and using digital tools to terrorize her, in one account to frame an innocent man. Rep. Kevin Mannix, one of the chief sponsors, said the law corrects a “dangerous gap” in the current system and argued that stalking is a well-documented precursor to lethal violence. He also said Oregon would be the first state in the nation to impose these deadlines.

The case for speed rests on what digital records can reveal. Sarah Sabri, the Oregon Department of Justice’s domestic violence resource prosecutor, testified that responses from communications companies often take “weeks, sometimes months,” a lag she said can hinder investigations, victim safety planning and efforts to determine whether threats are escalating. She said domestic violence and stalking are frequently carried out through text messages, email, social media, location tracking and other online communications.

For prosecutors and advocates, the tradeoff is straightforward: the faster the data arrives, the more likely officers can see escalation, fixation, credible threats or an offender’s access to a victim before violence turns fatal. For platforms and carriers, the new law imposes a hard clock, but only in tightly defined cases, with a judicial process and applicant-side identification intended to limit the expedited lane to the most dangerous situations. Oregon officials said the measure carries minimal fiscal impact and no revenue impact, underscoring that the main change is not spending, but forceful timing.