{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-56-56-54","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 56, § 56-54","heading":"Sickness or death of poor stranger","body":"A. It shall be the duty of the overseers of the poor, on\n\ncomplaint made to them that any person not an inhabitant of their\n\ncounty is lying sick therein or in distress, without friends or\n\nmoney, so that he will likely suffer, to examine into the case of\n\nsuch person and grant such temporary relief as the nature of the\n\nsame may require; and if any person shall die within any county, who\n\nshall not have money or means necessary to defray his funeral\n\nexpenses, it shall be the duty of the overseers of the poor of such\n\ncounty to employ some person to provide for and superintend the\n\nburial of such deceased person. Public cemeteries shall provide a\n\nburial plot at no cost at the request of the overseers of the poor\n\nor the person employed by the overseers of the poor to provide for\n\nand superintend the burial. Public cemeteries shall also provide\n\nthe service of opening and closing the grave for the purpose of\n\ninterring the remains of the poor or indigent person. The overseers\n\nof the poor of each county shall establish the necessary and\n\nreasonable expenses of the opening and closing services which shall\n\nbe paid by the county treasurer upon the order of such overseers.\n\nB. As used in this section, \"public cemeteries\" means\n\ncemeteries located in any county with a population of three hundred\n\nthousand (300,000) or more, according to the latest Federal\n\nDecennial Census, which sell burial plots to the general public and\n\nwhich are exempt from taxation under the laws of this state.\n\n\"Public cemeteries\" shall not include any municipal, fraternal,\n\nreligious, rural, community, township, state, county or nonprofit\n\ncooperative cemeteries, or free community burial grounds.\n\nR.L. 1910, § 4548. Amended by Laws 1993, c. 2, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,\n\n1993.","path":["OK Code","Title 56"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os56.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"1394223db5e8afde6098c0ff8efc42d0efdfd180cb3a61b57d4d5558effdeed4","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-56-56-530.8","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-56-56-57"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}