{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-57-57-566.4","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 57, § 57-566.4","heading":"Certain actions prohibited - Frivolous or malicious","body":"claims - Public records - Default judgment - Venue - Administrative\n\nfees - Judgments - Special report prior to answer - Appeals.\n\nA. No action may be brought in a court of this state by a\n\nprisoner or former prisoner for mental or emotional injury allegedly\n\nsuffered while under arrest, being detained, or in custody or\n\nincarcerated without a prior showing of actual physical injury.\n\nB. 1. Neither the state, any of its agencies or boards, the\n\nDepartment of Corrections, any county jail, city jail, private\n\ncorrectional company, nor their members, agents, servants or\n\nemployees shall be liable for any form of civil claim or action\n\nalleged to have arisen from any theory of contract law. No arrest\n\nor conviction resulting in detention or incarceration shall create\n\nany contractual obligation, either actual, implied or at common law,\n\nbetween the prisoner and the state, any of its agencies or boards,\n\nthe Department of Corrections, any county jail, city jail nor their\n\nmembers, agents, servants or employees. No policy or internal\n\nmanagement procedure issued for the management of the prison or jail\n\nshall constitute any contractual relationship or obligation between\n\nthe state, agency, board, commission, prison, jail, or any of its\n\nofficers, members, servants or employees, and the prisoner or any\n\nvisitor to the prison or jail.\n\n2. No tort action or civil claim may be filed against any\n\nemployee, agent, or servant of the state, the Department of\n\nCorrections, private correctional company, or any county jail or any\n\ncity jail alleging acts related to the duties of the employee, agent\n\nor servant, until all of the notice provisions of the Governmental\n\nTort Claims Act have been fully complied with by the claimant. This\n\nrequirement shall apply to any claim against an employee of the\n\nstate, the Department of Corrections, or any county jail or city\n\njail in either their official or individual capacity, and to any\n\nclaim against a private correctional contractor and its employees\n\nfor actions taken pursuant to or in connection with a governmental\n\ncontract.\n\nC. No civil action of any type may be brought seeking an\n\ninjunction or temporary restraining order against any city, county\n\nor state agency, or any officer or employee thereof, brought by a\n\nplaintiff who is currently incarcerated in any jail, state prison or\n\nprivate prison in the state if the claim alleges matters arising\n\nfrom the incarceration of the plaintiff and related to management of\n\nthe prison, including but not limited to, prison transfers, cell\n\nassignments, prison job or work assignments and disciplinary action.\n\nD. In any complaint or allegation made by a prisoner against\n\nany person holding a license to any state court, agency, board,\n\ncommission or association which issues any form of license, in which\n\nthe state court, agency, board, commission or association has made a\n\ndetermination that the complaint of the prisoner is frivolous,\n\nmalicious or without merit, the state court, agency, board,\n\ncommission or association may sanction the prisoner as provided for\n\nby law.\n\nE. No prisoner of any city or county jail or of any state,\n\nfederal or private prison in Oklahoma or any person on parole or\n\nprobation may obtain any public records maintained by any government\n\nentity and pertaining in any manner to any public employee, officer\n\nor to any citizen, or any criminal history record of any convicted\n\nfelon. No prisoner, probationer or parolee may obtain without\n\nprepayment of the required fees and costs any other public record\n\nsubject to release. The Director of the Department of Corrections\n\nshall promulgate a rule for the release of criminal history records\n\navailable to the public which shall include the requirement that\n\nrequests for criminal history records include the name of the person\nfelon. No prisoner, probationer or parolee may obtain without\n\nprepayment of the required fees and costs any other public record\n\nsubject to release. The Director of the Department of Corrections\n\nshall promulgate a rule for the release of criminal history records\n\navailable to the public which shall include the requirement that\n\nrequests for criminal history records include the name of the person\n\nwhose record is being requested and shall charge Fifteen Dollars\n\n($15.00) for each completed request responded to in any form of\n\nwritten communication by the Department.\n\nF. No default judgment shall be rendered against any person,\n\ncity, county or state agency, or any officer or employee thereof, in\n\nany form of civil action brought by a plaintiff who is currently\n\nincarcerated in any jail, state prison or private prison in the\n\nstate.\n\nG. Venue for tort actions filed by a prisoner or a former\n\nprisoner of any state prison in the state shall be as follows:\n\n1. Venue for actions filed by any prisoner of any state prison\n\nor private prison in which the state, the Department of Corrections,\n\nthe Board of Corrections as a whole or individual members, or any\n\nofficer or employee that has multicounty responsibilities is named\n\nas a party shall be in the county of the official residence of the\n\nDepartment of Corrections; and\n\n2. Venue for tort actions filed by prisoners of a county jail\n\nor city jail, and not involving the Department of Corrections, but\n\nagainst the sheriff, jailer, county officials or employees, or city\n\nofficials or employees shall be in the county where the jail is\n\nlocated.\n\nThe limitations on venue set out in this section shall also\n\napply to tort actions filed by former prisoners, if said tort action\n\nis based on facts that occurred while the plaintiff was a prisoner.\n\nH. The Attorney General, district attorneys and the general\n\ncounsel of the Department of Corrections shall notify the Pardon and\n\nParole Board of all lawsuits filed by any prisoner in which a\n\ndetermination was made by a court that the lawsuit was either\n\nfrivolous or malicious.\n\nI. The Department of Corrections may assess an administrative\n\nfee not to exceed Five Dollars ($5.00) for the processing of any\n\ngrievance or disciplinary report that has been appealed to the\n\nDirector and shall charge prisoners for the costs of any supplies,\n\nmaterials or services provided to the inmate at the request of the\n\ninmate. Any fees collected pursuant to this subsection shall be\n\ndeposited into the Department of Corrections Revolving Fund. If the\n\nappeal of the grievance or the disciplinary report results in a\n\nfinding in favor of the prisoner, all fees and costs collected\n\npursuant to this section shall be returned to the prisoner.\n\nJ. Judgments rendered against prisoners and received by the\n\nDepartment of Corrections for, but not limited to, monetary damages,\n\nchild support, transportation costs, filing fees, court costs,\n\nsanctions or attorney fees may be withdrawn by the Department from\n\nany funds deposited into a prison trust account of the prisoner and\n\nforwarded to the prevailing party.\n\nK. Upon motion of the defendant or the court for a special\n\nreport in any civil action filed by a prisoner or former prisoner or\n\nattorney of the prisoner against any party, the court shall stay all\n\nproceedings in the case and order the custodian or appropriate party\n\nto prepare a special report to the court prior to defendants being\n\nrequired to answer. The special report will order corrections\n\nofficials or the appropriate party to undertake a review of the\n\nsubject matter of the petition in order to provide the court with\n\nadditional information for the processing of the claim of the\n\nprisoner, to ascertain the facts and circumstances, to consider\n\nwhether any action can and should be taken by the institution or\n\nother appropriate officials to resolve the subject matter of the\nrections\n\nofficials or the appropriate party to undertake a review of the\n\nsubject matter of the petition in order to provide the court with\n\nadditional information for the processing of the claim of the\n\nprisoner, to ascertain the facts and circumstances, to consider\n\nwhether any action can and should be taken by the institution or\n\nother appropriate officials to resolve the subject matter of the\n\npetition and to determine whether other like matters, whether\n\npending in this court or elsewhere, are related to this matter and\n\nshould be taken up and considered together. All reports made in the\n\ncourse of the review shall be attached to and filed with the special\n\nreport, and a date the special report is due to the court shall be\n\nset. All pending motions are stricken without prejudice to their\n\nbeing reasserted after the special report is filed. All discovery\n\nunder the Oklahoma Rules of Civil Procedure is stayed until the\n\nspecial report has been filed and any dispositive motions based on\n\nthe special report are ruled upon. A copy of the special report\n\nshall be sent to the respective parties by the agency or person\n\npreparing the special report. Upon receipt of the special report,\n\ndispositive motions may be filed by the parties and the district\n\ncourt may properly dismiss the petition as being frivolous or\n\nmalicious or for failure to state a claim, may grant summary\n\njudgment or order that the case may proceed under the Oklahoma Rules\n\nof Civil Procedure.\n\nL. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, appeal of a\n\ndecision of the district court in a civil action related to a\n\nperson’s incarceration or supervision while in custody of the\n\nDepartment of Corrections, a county or municipal jail, or a private\n\nprison, adverse to a municipal, county or state employee or a person\n\nemployed by a private prison, shall be appealed directly to the\n\nappropriate appellate court without further motions.","path":["OK Code","Title 57"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os57.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"468554406c913fecce3e36868d1ee8f3174ac0dff99571da1320556c01ecc379","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-57-57-566.3","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-57-57-566.5"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}