{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-51-51-162","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 51, § 51-162","heading":"Defense of employees - Costs - Indemnification of","body":"employees - Punitive or exemplary damages - Privileges and\n\nimmunities not waived.\n\nA. The state or any political subdivision, subject to\n\nprocedural requirements imposed by this section, other applicable\n\nstatute, ordinance, resolution, or written policy, shall:\n\n1. Provide a defense for any employee as defined in Section 152\n\nof this title when liability is sought for any violation of property\n\nrights or any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the\n\nConstitution or laws of the United States when alleged to have been\n\ncommitted by the employee while acting within the scope of\n\nemployment;\n\n2. Pay or cause to be paid any judgment entered in the courts\n\nof the United States, the State of Oklahoma or any other state\n\nagainst any employee or political subdivision or settlement agreed\n\nto by the political subdivision entered against any employee, and\n\nany costs or fees, for a violation of property rights or any rights,\n\nprivileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the\n\nUnited States which occurred while the employee was acting within\n\nthe scope of employment. The maximum aggregate amount of\n\nindemnification paid directly from funds of the state or any\n\npolitical subdivision to or on behalf of any employee pursuant to\n\nthis section shall not exceed the maximum figures authorized by the\n\nprovisions of Section 154 of this title, regardless of the number of\n\npersons who suffer damage, injury or death as a result of the\n\noccurrence, unless, in the case of a political subdivision, the\n\npolitical subdivision establishes higher limits by ordinance, if a\n\nmunicipality, or, as to other political subdivisions, by resolution,\n\npublished as required by law; and\n\n3. For any cause of action filed against an employee on or\n\nafter January 1, 1990, post or cause to be posted any supersedeas or\n\nother bond ordered by the court.\n\nB. 1. The state or a political subdivision shall not be\n\nrequired to indemnify any employee of the state or a political\n\nsubdivision under the provisions of this section, unless the\n\nemployee is judicially determined to be entitled to such\n\nindemnification and a final judgment therefor is entered. The\n\nexclusive means of recovering indemnification from the state shall\n\nbe by filing an application for indemnification in the district\n\ncourt of the county where venue is proper as provided for in\n\nparagraph 2 of this subsection. The exclusive means of recovering\n\nindemnification from a political subdivision shall be by filing an\n\napplication for indemnification in the trial court where the\n\njudgment was entered. If the federal trial court cannot hear the\n\naction, such application shall be filed in the district court of the\n\ncounty where the situs of the municipality is located. Actions to\n\ndetermine entitlement to indemnification shall be tried to the\n\ncourt, sitting without a jury.\n\n2. Venue for actions to determine entitlement to\n\nindemnification from the state shall be in Oklahoma County, except\n\nthat a constitutional state agency, board or commission may, upon a\n\nresolution being filed with the Secretary of State, designate\n\nanother situs for venue in lieu of Oklahoma County.\n\n3. All applications for indemnification from the state or a\n\npolitical subdivision shall be filed in the name of the real party\n\nor parties in interest, and in no event shall any application be\n\npresented nor recovery made under the right of subrogation.\n\nIndemnification from the state as provided for in this subsection\n\nshall extend only to acts or omissions occurring on or after January\n\n1, 1984. The employee of the state or a political subdivision must\n\nfile an application for indemnification within thirty (30) days of\n\nfinal judgment, or the right to seek indemnification shall be lost\n\nforever.\n\n4. In order to recover indemnification from the state or a\n\npolitical subdivision pursuant to this subsection, the court shall\n\ndetermine by a preponderance of the evidence that:\nanuary\n\n1, 1984. The employee of the state or a political subdivision must\n\nfile an application for indemnification within thirty (30) days of\n\nfinal judgment, or the right to seek indemnification shall be lost\n\nforever.\n\n4. In order to recover indemnification from the state or a\n\npolitical subdivision pursuant to this subsection, the court shall\n\ndetermine by a preponderance of the evidence that:\n\na. the employee reasonably cooperated in good faith in\n\nthe defense of the action upon which the judgment or\n\nsettlement was awarded and for which indemnification\n\nis sought;\n\nb. the actions or omissions upon which such a judgment or\n\nsettlement has been rendered were not the result of\n\nfraudulent conduct or corruption by the employee;\n\nc. the employee, in committing the acts or omissions upon\n\nwhich a judgment or settlement has been rendered was\n\nacting in good faith and within any applicable written\n\nadministrative policies known to the employee at the\n\ntime of the omissions or acts alleged;\n\nd. the employee was acting within the scope of employment\n\nat the time that the acts or omissions upon which a\n\njudgment or settlement has been rendered were\n\ncommitted by the employee;\n\ne. the acts or omissions of the employee upon which a\n\njudgment or settlement has been rendered were not\n\nmotivated by invidious discriminatory animus directed\n\ntoward race, sex, or national origin; and\n\nf. when punitive or exemplary damages are included in the\n\ntotal award rendered against the employee of a\n\npolitical subdivision, the indemnification amount\n\nsought for fees and costs does not include amounts\n\nattributable to the employee's defense against the\n\npunitive or exemplary damages in accordance with\n\nsubsection D of this section.\n\n5. a. Any indemnification judgment against the state under\n\nthis section shall be an encumbrance against otherwise\n\navailable unencumbered monies and unallocated\n\nunencumbered monies in the appropriations of the\n\nagency on whose behalf the employee to be indemnified\n\nwas acting at the time of the act or omission upon\n\nwhich the judgment or settlement was awarded and for\n\nwhich indemnification was sought.\n\nb. If sufficient unencumbered monies or unallocated\n\nunencumbered monies do not exist in the agency's\n\nappropriations to pay the indemnification, the agency\n\nshall make application to the Risk Management Division\n\nof the Office of Management and Enterprise Services\n\nfor full payment of the indemnification out of the\n\nRisk Management Revolving Fund established pursuant to\n\nSection 85.58K of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes.\n\nPayment out of this fund shall be authorized if there\n\nare sufficient monies greater than the sum total of\n\nthe then pending fund indemnification judgment\n\nrequests, and the reserves for future tort claims as\n\ncertified by the Director of Risk Management.\n\nc. If sufficient monies do not exist in the Tort Claims\n\nLiability Revolving Fund, the agency shall request the\n\nLegislature to make an appropriation sufficient to pay\n\nthe indemnification.\n\nd. Any indemnification judgment against a political\n\nsubdivision shall be paid as provided in Sections 361\n\nthrough 365.6 of Title 62 of the Oklahoma Statutes and\n\nSection 159 of this title.\n\nC. The state or political subdivision shall have the right to\n\nrecover from an employee the amount expended by the state or\n\npolitical subdivision to provide a defense, or pay a settlement\n\nagreed to by the employee and the state or political subdivision, or\n\npay the final judgment, if it is shown that the employee's conduct\n\nwhich gave rise to the action was fraudulent or corrupt or if the\n\nemployee fails to reasonably cooperate in good faith in defense of\n\nthe action.\n\nD. The state or a political subdivision shall not, under any\n\ncircumstances, be responsible to pay or indemnify any employee for\n\nany punitive or exemplary damages rendered against the employee, nor\njudgment, if it is shown that the employee's conduct\n\nwhich gave rise to the action was fraudulent or corrupt or if the\n\nemployee fails to reasonably cooperate in good faith in defense of\n\nthe action.\n\nD. The state or a political subdivision shall not, under any\n\ncircumstances, be responsible to pay or indemnify any employee for\n\nany punitive or exemplary damages rendered against the employee, nor\n\nto pay for any defense, judgment, settlement, costs, or fees which\n\nare paid or covered by any applicable policy or contract of\n\ninsurance. Where any civil rights judgment upon which\n\nindemnification under subsection B of this section is applied for by\n\nan employee of the state includes an award for both actual and\n\npunitive or exemplary damages, the total amount of fees and costs\n\nfor which indemnification may be allowed shall be limited to the\n\npercentage of fees and costs in the total award that the percentage\n\nof the award of actual damages bears to the total judgment awarded.\n\nIt is the public policy of the State of Oklahoma that the state or a\n\npolitical subdivision may indemnify its employee for actual damages,\n\nfees, and costs as provided herein in any case in which the findings\n\nset out in paragraph B of this section have been determined.\n\nE. Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive any\n\nimmunities available to the state under the terms of the Eleventh\n\nAmendment to the Constitution of the United States. Any immunity or\n\nother bar to a civil lawsuit under state or federal law shall remain\n\nin effect. The fact that the state or a political subdivision may\n\nrelieve an employee from all judgments, settlements, costs, or fees\n\narising from the civil lawsuit shall not, under any circumstances,\n\nbe communicated to any trier of fact in the case of any trial by\n\njury.","path":["OK Code","Title 51"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os51.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"df867091df37462f0bcc09387ded29e7c6f139fe22272d6d793b25a6f4cef925","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-51-51-161.1","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-51-51-163"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}