{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-60.18","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 22, § 22-60.18","heading":"Expungement of victim protective orders","body":"A. Persons authorized to file a motion for expungement of\n\nvictim protective orders (VPOs) issued pursuant to the Protection\n\nfrom Domestic Abuse Act in this state must be within one of the\n\nfollowing categories:\n\n1. An ex parte order was issued to the plaintiff but later\n\nterminated due to dismissal of the petition before the full hearing,\n\nor denial of the petition upon full hearing, or failure of the\n\nplaintiff to appear for full hearing, and at least ninety (90) days\n\nhave passed since the date set for full hearing;\n\n2. The plaintiff filed an application for a victim protective\n\norder and failed to appear for the full hearing and at least ninety\n\n(90) days have passed since the date last set by the court for the\n\nfull hearing, including the last date set for any continuance,\n\npostponement or rescheduling of the hearing;\n\n3. The plaintiff or defendant has had the order vacated and\n\nthree (3) years have passed since the order to vacate was entered;\n\nor\n\n4. The plaintiff or defendant is deceased.\n\nB. For purposes of this section:\n\n1. “Expungement” means the sealing of victim protective order\n\n(VPO) court records from public inspection, but not from law\n\nenforcement agencies, the court or the district attorney;\n\n2. “Plaintiff” means the person or persons who sought the\n\noriginal victim protective order (VPO) for cause; and\n\n3. “Defendant” means the person or persons to whom the victim\n\nprotective order (VPO) was directed.\n\nC. 1. Any person qualified under subsection A of this section\n\nmay petition the district court of the district in which the\n\nprotective order pertaining to the person is located for the\n\nexpungement and sealing of the court records from public inspection.\n\nThe face of the petition shall state whether the defendant in the\n\nprotective order has been convicted of any violation of the\n\nprotective order and whether any prosecution or complaint is pending\n\nin this state or any other state for a violation or alleged\n\nviolation of the protective order that is sought to be expunged.\n\nThe petition shall further state the authority pursuant to\n\nsubsection A of this section for eligibility for requesting the\n\nexpungement. The other party to the protective order shall be\n\nmailed a copy of the petition by certified mail within ten (10) days\n\nof filing the petition. A written answer or objection may be filed\n\nwithin thirty (30) days of receiving the notice and petition.\n\n2. Upon the filing of a petition, the court shall set a date\n\nfor a hearing and shall provide at least a thirty-day notice of the\n\nhearing to all parties to the protective order, the district\n\nattorney, and any other person or agency whom the court has reason\n\nto believe may have relevant information related to the sealing of\n\nthe victim protective order (VPO) court record.\n\n3. Without objection from the other party to the victim\n\nprotective order (VPO) or upon a finding that the harm to the\n\nprivacy of the person in interest or dangers of unwarranted adverse\n\nconsequences outweigh the public and safety interests of the parties\n\nto the protective order in retaining the records, the court may\n\norder the court record, or any part thereof, to be sealed from\n\npublic inspection. Any order entered pursuant to this section shall\n\nnot limit or restrict any law enforcement agency, the district\n\nattorney or the court from accessing said records without the\n\nnecessity of a court order. Any order entered pursuant to this\n\nsubsection may be appealed by any party to the protective order or\n\nby the district attorney to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in accordance\n\nwith the rules of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.\n\n4. Upon the entry of an order to expunge and seal from public\n\ninspection a victim protective order (VPO) court record, or any part\n\nthereof, the subject official actions shall be deemed never to have\n\noccurred, and the persons in interest and the public may properly\nctive order or\n\nby the district attorney to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in accordance\n\nwith the rules of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.\n\n4. Upon the entry of an order to expunge and seal from public\n\ninspection a victim protective order (VPO) court record, or any part\n\nthereof, the subject official actions shall be deemed never to have\n\noccurred, and the persons in interest and the public may properly\n\nreply, upon any inquiry in the matter, that no such action ever\n\noccurred and that no such record exists with respect to the persons.\n\n5. Inspection of the protective order court records included in\n\nthe expungement order issued pursuant to this section may thereafter\n\nbe permitted only upon petition by the persons in interest who are\n\nthe subjects of the records, or without petition by the district\n\nattorney or a law enforcement agency in the due course of\n\ninvestigation of a crime.\n\n6. Employers, educational institutions, state and local\n\ngovernment agencies, officials, and employees shall not require, in\n\nany application or interview or otherwise, an applicant to disclose\n\nany information contained in sealed protective order court records.\n\nAn applicant need not, in answer to any question concerning the\n\nrecords, provide information that has been sealed, including any\n\nreference to or information concerning the sealed information and\n\nmay state that no such action has ever occurred. The application\n\nmay not be denied solely because of the refusal of the applicant to\n\ndisclose protective order court records information that has been\n\nsealed.\n\n7. The provisions of this section shall apply to all protective\n\norder court records existing in the district courts of this state\n\non, before and after the effective date of this section.\n\n8. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the\n\nphysical destruction of any court records, except as otherwise\n\nprovided by law for records no longer required to be maintained by\n\nthe court.\n\n9. 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\n10. For the purposes of this act, district court index\n\nreference of sealed material shall be destroyed, removed or\n\nobliterated.\n\n11. Any record ordered to be sealed pursuant to this section\n\nmay be obliterated or destroyed at the end of the ten-year period.\n\n12. 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.","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":"772330b32c2c78d5e08cf958f739689f8369d2d4dff729b1562bb0582627fdb1","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-60.17","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-60.19"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}