VI. Access to civil records

Overview

Oklahoma

In general, records filed in court proceedings are subject to the Oklahoma Open Records Act, Okla. Stat. tit. 51, §§ 24A.1 et seq., see Nichols v. Jackson, 2002 OK 65, 55 P.3d 1044, and can be obtained simply by asking for them. In one unreported case, the trial court sealed the entire court file (at the request of the plaintiff) in a suit by a student athlete who sued a state university to enjoin it from suspending him from enrollment over an alleged act of sexual misconduct. Media were permitted to challenge the sealing by motion, and the court unsealed the file, except for redaction of the names of alleged victims and witnesses.