{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-16-16-75","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 16, § 16-75","heading":"Contents and recording of notice - Sham legal process","body":"A. To be effective and to be entitled to be recorded, the\n\nnotice of claim of interest in land, referred to in Section 74 of\n\nthis title, shall contain an accurate and full description of all\n\nland affected by such notice which description shall be set forth in\n\nparticular terms and not by general inclusions; but if said claim is\n\nfounded upon a recorded instrument, then the description in such\n\nnotice may be the same as that contained in such recorded\n\ninstrument. Such notice shall be filed for record in the county\n\nclerk's office of the county or counties where the land described\n\ntherein is situated. Except as provided in subsection B of this\n\nsection, the county clerk of each county shall accept all such\n\nnotices presented to him which describe land located in the county\n\nin which he serves and shall enter, record and index the same in the\n\nsame way that deeds are recorded and each county clerk shall be\n\nentitled to charge the same fees for the recording thereof as are\n\ncharged for recording deeds. In indexing such notices in his\n\noffice, each county clerk shall enter such notices in the index of\n\ndeeds and in the numerical index. The names of the claimants\n\nappearing in such notices are to be entered as grantees in such\n\nindexes.\n\nB. The county clerk may refuse to file any notice of interest\n\nin land provided for in subsection A of this section, if the clerk\n\nbelieves that the instrument constitutes sham legal process, as\n\ndefined by Section 1533 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or if\n\nthe clerk believes the notice is being presented for the purpose of\n\nslandering the title to land.\n\nC. 1. Any person aggrieved by the refusal of a county clerk to\n\nfile any notice provided for in subsection A of this section may\n\npetition the district court for a writ of mandamus to compel the\n\ncounty clerk to record the notice.\n\n2. At the time of refusal, the person aggrieved shall file a\n\nnotice of refusal with the county clerk for the purpose of\n\npreserving priority of filing in the event the person prevails in\n\nany action so commenced, if the person wishes to preserve priority\n\nof filing. The refusal notice shall be submitted on a form provided\n\nby the county clerk, but must be filled out by the aggrieved party.\n\nA copy of the instrument that the clerk refused to file must be\n\nattached to the notice of refusal. The county clerk shall stamp the\n\ndate of refusal on the notice of refusal.\n\n3. The refusal notice shall be in the following form:\n\nSTATE OF OKLAHOMA\n\n__________ COUNTY\n\nNOTICE OF REFUSAL\n\nThe Office of County Clerk of __________ County, Oklahoma, has\n\non __________ (date) refused to file a document designated\n\n___________ (title of document or brief description of document).\n\nThe document constitutes a claim or lien on the following property:\n\n______________ _______________________________________________\n\n(Description of property. In case of real property, description\n\nmust be the legal description for the property.) A copy of the\n\nrefused document must be attached to this notice of refusal or the\n\nclerk cannot accept it for filing.\n\nSigned:_____________ Signed: ________________________\n\nCounty Clerk Aggrieved party or attorney\n\nfor aggrieved party\n\n_______County, Oklahoma\n\nAddress:__________________\n\n__________________________\n\n4. The action for mandamus must be filed with the district\n\ncourt within twenty (20) days after the notice of refusal is filed\n\nwith the county clerk. If the writ of mandamus is granted, the\n\ncourt clerk shall refund the fee for filing the action. Notice of\n\nthe pendency of a mandamus action filed pursuant to this section\n\nshall be filed in accordance with Section 2004.2 of Title 12 of the\n\nOklahoma Statutes. A file-stamped copy of the notice of the\n\npendency of the action, identifying the case and the court in which\n\nthe action is pending and the legal description of the land affected\ncourt clerk shall refund the fee for filing the action. Notice of\n\nthe pendency of a mandamus action filed pursuant to this section\n\nshall be filed in accordance with Section 2004.2 of Title 12 of the\n\nOklahoma Statutes. A file-stamped copy of the notice of the\n\npendency of the action, identifying the case and the court in which\n\nthe action is pending and the legal description of the land affected\n\nby the action shall be filed with the county clerk. If the court\n\ndetermines that the notice provided for in subsection A of this\n\nsection is not sham legal process or is not for the purpose of\n\nslandering title, the court shall order the county clerk to record\n\nthe notice. The court order shall include a notation of the book\n\nand page number of the index in which the notice of refusal is\n\nlocated and a statement that abstractors shall not show the pages on\n\nwhich the attachment to the notice of refusal is located in any\n\nabstract. For any notice which the court orders to be filed\n\npursuant to this subsection, the date of filing shall be retroactive\n\nto the date the notice of refusal was filed.\n\n5. If the court determines that the notice of claim of interest\n\nin land is sham legal process, the court shall issue an order that\n\nabstractors shall not show the pages on which the attachment to the\n\nnotice of refusal is located in any abstract.\n\nD. If a county clerk files a notice of interest in land that is\n\nsham legal process or refuses to file a notice of interest in land\n\nbecause the clerk believes the notice to be sham legal process, the\n\nclerk shall be immune from liability for such action in any civil\n\nsuit.\n\nE. A clerk shall post a sign, in letters at least one (1) inch\n\nin height, that is clearly visible to the general public in or near\n\nthe clerk's office stating that it is a felony to intentionally or\n\nknowingly file or attempt to file sham legal process with the clerk.\n\nFailure of the clerk to post such a sign shall not create a defense\n\nto any criminal or civil action based on sham legal process.","path":["OK Code","Title 16"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os16.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"9d5d8dd12c1c4a6f1bde9f615a283f0fa6ec724c65f1406fafdcde44f04bf200","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-16-16-74","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-16-16-76"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}