{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-19","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 22, § 22-19","heading":"Sealing and unsealing of records - Procedure","body":"A. Any person qualified under Section 18 of this title may\n\npetition the district court of the district in which the arrest\n\ninformation pertaining to the person is located for the sealing of\n\nall or any part of the record, except basic identification\n\ninformation.\n\nB. The process for the automatic expungement of a clean slate\n\neligible arrest record as defined in subsection C of Section 18 of\n\nthis title is as follows:\n\n1. On a monthly basis, the Oklahoma State Bureau of\n\nInvestigation shall identify arrest records which are clean slate\n\neligible by conducting a search of the criminal history repository\n\nrecords of the Bureau;\n\n2. The Bureau shall, on a monthly basis, provide a list of\n\nclean slate eligible arrest records to the prosecuting agency and\n\nthe arresting agency;\n\n3. The prosecuting agency, arresting agency, and the Bureau\n\nmay, no later than forty-five (45) days from the day on which the\n\nnotice described in paragraph 2 of this subsection is transmitted,\n\nobject to an automatic expungement and such objection shall be\n\ntransmitted to all parties. An objection may be made for any of the\n\nfollowing reasons:\n\na. after reviewing the agency record, the agency believes\n\nthe arrest record does not meet the definition of a\n\nclean slate eligible arrest record,\n\nb. the individual has not paid court-ordered restitution\n\nto the victim, or\n\nc. the agency has a reasonable belief, grounded in\n\nsupporting facts, that an individual with a clean\n\nslate eligible arrest record is continuing to engage\n\nin criminal activity, whether charged or not charged,\n\nwithin or outside the state;\n\n4. If an agency identified in paragraph 3 of this subsection\n\nobjects for a reason described in paragraph 3 of this subsection\n\nwithin forty-five (45) days of the day on which the notice described\n\nin paragraph 2 of this subsection is transmitted, the record shall\n\nnot be expunged. Once a year, the Bureau shall electronically\n\nsubmit a report to the Legislature with a list of all cases where a\n\nrecord was not expunged pursuant to this paragraph; and\n\n5. After forty-five (45) days pass from the day on which the\n\nnotice described in paragraph 2 of this subsection is sent, the\n\nBureau shall provide to the courts a list of all cases where\n\nresponses from all parties were received and no parties objected.\n\nThe court shall review this list and provide to all agencies that\n\nhave criminal history records a signed expungement order for all\n\ncases approved. Upon receipt of a signed expungement order, each\n\nagency shall seal the relevant records.\n\nThe Bureau and the Supreme Court may promulgate rules to govern\n\nthe process for automatic expungement of records for a clean slate\n\neligible arrest record in accordance with this subsection.\n\nC. 1. Nothing in this section precludes an individual from\n\nfiling a petition for expungement of records that are eligible for\n\nautomatic expungement under subsection C of Section 18 of this title\n\nif an automatic expungement has not occurred pursuant to subsection\n\nB of this section.\n\n2. An individual does not have a cause of action for damages as\n\na result of the failure of the Bureau to identify an arrest record\n\nas eligible for automatic expungement.\n\nD. An automatic expungement granted under subsection B of this\n\nsection does not preclude an individual from requesting the\n\nunsealing of records in accordance with subsection P of this\n\nsection.\n\nE. Upon the filing of a petition or entering of a court order\n\nas prescribed in subsection A of this section, the court shall set a\n\ndate for a hearing and shall provide thirty (30) days of notice of\n\nthe hearing to the prosecuting agency, the arresting agency, the\n\nOklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and any other person or\n\nagency whom the court has reason to believe may have relevant\n\ninformation related to the sealing of such record.\n\nF. If a petitioner requests expungement for multiple offenses\n, the court shall set a\n\ndate for a hearing and shall provide thirty (30) days of notice of\n\nthe hearing to the prosecuting agency, the arresting agency, the\n\nOklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and any other person or\n\nagency whom the court has reason to believe may have relevant\n\ninformation related to the sealing of such record.\n\nF. If a petitioner requests expungement for multiple offenses\n\nin one county, each of which would qualify for expungement if\n\nprocessed sequentially, the expungements may be considered under a\n\nsingle petition. The petitioner shall not be required to submit\n\nmultiple petitions to accomplish the sequential sealing of multiple\n\noffenses in a single county.\n\nG. Upon a finding that the harm to privacy of the person in\n\ninterest or dangers of unwarranted adverse consequences outweigh the\n\npublic interest in retaining the records, the court may order such\n\nrecords, or any part thereof except basic identification\n\ninformation, to be sealed. If the court finds that neither sealing\n\nof the records nor maintaining of the records unsealed by the agency\n\nwould serve the ends of justice, the court may enter an appropriate\n\norder limiting access to such records.\n\nAny order entered under this subsection shall specify those\n\nagencies to which such order shall apply. Any order entered\n\npursuant to this subsection may be appealed by the petitioner, the\n\nprosecuting agency, the arresting agency, or the Oklahoma State\n\nBureau of Investigation to the Supreme Court in accordance with the\n\nrules of the Supreme Court. In all such appeals, the Oklahoma State\n\nBureau of Investigation is a necessary party and must be given\n\nnotice of the appellate proceedings.\n\nH. Upon the entry of an order to seal the records, or any part\n\nthereof, or upon an automatic expungement described in subsection B\n\nof this section, the subject official actions shall be deemed never\n\nto have occurred, and the person in interest and all criminal\n\njustice agencies may properly reply, upon any inquiry in the matter,\n\nthat no such action ever occurred and that no such record exists\n\nwith respect to such person.\n\nI. Inspection of the records included in the order may\n\nthereafter be permitted by the court only upon petition by the\n\nperson in interest who is the subject of such records, the Attorney\n\nGeneral, or by the prosecuting agency and only to those persons and\n\nfor such purposes named in such petition.\n\nJ. Employers, educational institutions, state and local\n\ngovernment agencies, officials, and employees shall not, in any\n\napplication or interview or otherwise, require an applicant to\n\ndisclose any information contained in sealed records. An applicant\n\nneed not, in answer to any question concerning arrest and criminal\n\nrecords, provide information that has been sealed, including any\n\nreference to or information concerning such sealed information and\n\nmay state that no such action has ever occurred. Such an\n\napplication may not be denied solely because of the refusal of the\n\napplicant to disclose arrest and criminal records information that\n\nhas been sealed.\n\nK. All arrest and criminal records information existing prior\n\nto May 14, 1987, except basic identification information, is also\n\nsubject to sealing in accordance with subsection G of this section.\n\nL. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the\n\nphysical destruction of any criminal justice records.\n\nM. For the purposes of this section, sealed materials which are\n\nrecorded in the same document as unsealed material may be recorded\n\nin a separate document, and sealed, then obliterated in the original\n\ndocument.\n\nN. For the purposes of this section, district court index\n\nreference of sealed material shall be destroyed, removed or\n\nobliterated.\n\nO. Any record ordered to be sealed pursuant to this section, if\nrded in the same document as unsealed material may be recorded\n\nin a separate document, and sealed, then obliterated in the original\n\ndocument.\n\nN. For the purposes of this section, district court index\n\nreference of sealed material shall be destroyed, removed or\n\nobliterated.\n\nO. Any record ordered to be sealed pursuant to this section, if\n\nnot unsealed within ten (10) years of the expungement order, may be\n\nobliterated or destroyed at the end of the ten-year period.\n\nP. Subsequent to records being sealed as provided herein, the\n\nprosecuting agency, the arresting agency, the Oklahoma State Bureau\n\nof Investigation, or other interested person or agency may petition\n\nthe court for an order unsealing such records. Upon filing of a\n\npetition, the court shall set a date for hearing, which hearing may\n\nbe closed at the discretion of the court, and shall provide thirty\n\n(30) days of notice to all interested parties. If, upon hearing,\n\nthe court determines there has been a change of conditions or that\n\nthere is a compelling reason to unseal the records, the court may\n\norder all or a portion of the records unsealed.\n\nQ. Nothing herein shall prohibit the introduction of evidence\n\nregarding actions sealed pursuant to the provisions of this section\n\nat any hearing or trial for purposes of impeaching the credibility\n\nof a witness or as evidence of character testimony pursuant to\n\nSection 2608 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.\n\nR. If a person qualifies for an expungement under the\n\nprovisions of paragraph 3 of subsection A of Section 18 of this\n\ntitle and the petition for expungement is granted by the court, the\n\ncourt shall order the reimbursement of all filing fees and court\n\ncosts incurred by the petitioner as a result of filing the\n\nexpungement request.\n\nS. If a person qualifies for an expungement under the\n\nprovisions of paragraph 3 or 4 of subsection A of Section 18 of this\n\ntitle, the person may request a hearing be set within thirty (30)\n\ndays after the date of filing the petition for expungement. The\n\ncourt shall grant the request for the hearing and shall provide a\n\nnotice of no less than ten (10) days for said hearing to the\n\nprosecuting agency, the arresting agency, the Oklahoma State Bureau\n\nof Investigation, and any other person or agency whom the court has\n\nreason to believe may have relevant information related to the\n\nsealing of such record. Any order entered pursuant to the\n\nprovisions of this subsection shall be subject to the provisions of\n\nsubsections F through P of this section.\n\nT. Any offense that has been expunged shall not be treated as a\n\nprior offense in determining whether another offense qualifies for\n\nan expungement under Section 18 of this title.","path":["OK Code","Title 22"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os22.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"0958f073530e9d47688ce569207876e1f9d0557e3a80e8a633c6b82a7af120a8","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-18v2","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-190"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}