{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-10a-10a-1-4-902","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 10A-1-4-902","heading":"Termination motion or petition by district attorney","body":"A. The district attorney shall file a petition or motion for\n\ntermination of the parent-child relationship and parental rights\n\nwith respect to a child or shall join in the petition or motion, if\n\nfiled by the child’s attorney, in any of the following\n\ncircumstances:\n\n1. Prior to the end of the fifteenth month when a child has\n\nbeen placed in foster care by the Department of Human Services for\n\nfifteen (15) of the most recent twenty-two (22) months. For\n\npurposes of this paragraph, a child shall be considered to have\n\nentered foster care on the earlier of:\n\na. the date of adjudication as a deprived child, or\n\nb. the date that is sixty (60) days after the date on\n\nwhich the child is removed from the home;\n\n2. No later than sixty (60) days after a child has been\n\njudicially determined to be an abandoned infant;\n\n3. No later than sixty (60) days after a court has determined\n\nthat reasonable efforts to reunite are not required due to a felony\n\nconviction of a parent of any of the following acts:\n\na. permitting a child to participate in child sexual\n\nabuse material,\n\nb. rape, or rape by instrumentation,\n\nc. lewd molestation of a child under sixteen (16) years\n\nof age,\n\nd. child abuse or neglect,\n\ne. enabling child abuse or neglect,\n\nf. causing the death of a child as a result of the\n\nphysical or sexual abuse or chronic abuse or chronic\n\nneglect of the child,\n\ng. causing the death of a sibling of the child as a\n\nresult of the physical or sexual abuse or chronic\n\nabuse or chronic neglect of the child’s sibling,\n\nh. murder of any child or aiding or abetting, attempting,\n\nconspiring in, or soliciting to commit murder of any\n\nchild,\n\ni. voluntary manslaughter of any child,\n\nj. a felony assault that has resulted in serious bodily\n\ninjury to the child or another child of the parent, or\n\nk. murder or voluntary manslaughter of the child’s parent\n\nor aiding or abetting, attempting, conspiring in, or\n\nsoliciting to commit murder of the child’s parent;\n\n4. No later than ninety (90) days after the court has ordered\n\nthe individualized service plan if the parent has made no measurable\n\nprogress in correcting the conditions which caused the child to be\n\nadjudicated deprived; or\n\n5. After a period of fifteen (15) months if a parent has not\n\ncorrected the circumstances which led the child to be adjudicated to\n\nbe a deprived child and if the court makes a finding pursuant to\n\nparagraph 16 of subsection B of Section 1-4-904 of this title.\n\nB. If any of the following conditions exist, the district\n\nattorney is not required to file a petition as provided in\n\nsubsection A of this section for a deprived child:\n\n1. At the option of the Department or by order of the court,\n\nthe child is properly being cared for by a relative;\n\n2. The Department has documented a compelling reason for\n\ndetermining that filing a petition to terminate parental rights\n\nwould not serve the best interests of the child that may include\n\nconsideration of any of the following circumstances:\n\na. the parents or legal guardians have maintained a\n\nrelationship with the child and the child would\n\nbenefit from continuing this relationship,\n\nb. the child, who is twelve (12) years of age or older,\n\nobjects to the termination of the parent-child legal\n\nrelationship,\n\nc. the foster parents of the child are unable to adopt\n\nthe child because of exceptional circumstances which\n\ndo not include an unwillingness to accept legal\n\nresponsibility for the child but are willing and\n\ncapable of providing the child with a stable and\n\npermanent environment, and the removal of the child\n\nfrom the physical custody of the foster parents would\n\nbe seriously detrimental to the emotional well-being\n\nof the child because the child has substantial\n\npsychological ties to the foster parents,\n\nd. the child is not capable of achieving stability if\n\nplaced in a family setting, or\nilling and\n\ncapable of providing the child with a stable and\n\npermanent environment, and the removal of the child\n\nfrom the physical custody of the foster parents would\n\nbe seriously detrimental to the emotional well-being\n\nof the child because the child has substantial\n\npsychological ties to the foster parents,\n\nd. the child is not capable of achieving stability if\n\nplaced in a family setting, or\n\ne. the child is an unaccompanied, refugee minor and the\n\nsituation regarding the child involves international\n\nlegal issues or compelling foreign policy issues; or\n\n3. The state has not provided to the family of the child,\n\nconsistent with the time period in the state case plan, services\n\nthat the state deems necessary for the safe return of the child to\n\nthe child’s home, if reasonable efforts are required to be made with\n\nrespect to the child.","path":["OK Code","Title 10A"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os10A.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"d1cd75852b9ddb219fde91e1ef75fb583dfdc5b07738a6663fe214be947c26ae","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-10a-10a-1-4-901","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-10a-10a-1-4-903"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}