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Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 10A-1-4-101

This is the official text of Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 10A-1-4-101, part of Oklahoma’s Stat. tit. 10A, — part of the compiled statutory law of Oklahoma, published by the state as "Stat. tit. 10A,." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Jurisdiction – Venue – Residence of child – Transfer

Official statutory text

of proceedings.

A. 1. Upon the filing of a petition, the assumption of the

custody of a child, or issuance of an emergency custody order

pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Children's Code, the

district court shall obtain jurisdiction over any child who is or is

alleged to be deprived. Jurisdiction shall also be obtained over

any parent, legal guardian, or custodian of and any other person

living in the home of such child who appears in court or has been

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 10A. Children and Juvenile Code Page 70

properly served with a summons pursuant to Section 1-4-304 of this

title.

2. When jurisdiction has been obtained over a child who is or

is alleged to be a deprived child:

a. such jurisdiction may be retained until the child

becomes eighteen (18) years of age,

b. the court may issue any temporary order or grant any

interlocutory relief authorized by this Code in an

emergency, regardless of whether another district

court within the county or state has prior or current

jurisdiction to determine the custody, support, or

visitation of the child,

c. all other action then pending or thereafter commenced

within the county or state that concerns the custody,

support, or visitation of the child shall be

automatically stayed unless after notice to the

parties in the deprived action, the written consent of

such court is obtained and filed in the other

proceeding; provided, a child's delinquency action

may, in the discretion of the court, proceed pursuant

to the Oklahoma Juvenile Code,

d. all orders entered in the deprived proceeding

concerning the custody, support, or visitation of a

child shall control over conflicting orders entered in

other actions until such time as the jurisdiction of

the court in the deprived proceeding terminates, and

e. the judge presiding over a deprived action shall have

the authority to make a final determination in the

matter and preside over any separate action necessary

to finalize a child's court-approved permanency plan

including an adoption, guardianship, or other custody

proceeding.

B. 1. Venue of any action involving a child alleged to be

deprived shall be in the county where:

a. the child resides, or has resided for six (6) months

preceding the filing,

b. the alleged acts of deprivation occurred, or

c. a parent or sibling has a deprived action pending.

If none of the locations listed in this paragraph are known, venue

may be in the county where the child is found.

2. A deprived action shall not be dismissed if filed in the

wrong venue, but shall be transferred to the proper venue upon

discovery of the proper venue, unless venue is waived by all parties

on the record.

3. Except as provided for in this subsection, a deprived action

commenced in a county outside of the residence of the child may be

transferred to the county of the child's residence at any stage in

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 10A. Children and Juvenile Code Page 71

the proceedings after the petition has been filed. The receiving

court shall continue with the proceedings as though the original

petition had been filed in that court.

a. When a petition or motion to terminate parental rights

has been filed, the case shall not be transferred

until the sending court has concluded the termination

proceeding.

b. Absent good cause to the contrary, a deprived action

shall be transferred to the county where other

proceedings are pending concerning custody of the

child or the child's siblings.

c. Prior to adjudication pursuant to Section 1-4-603 of

this title, a case may be transferred to a venue where

the evidence or witnesses are located when the

interests of justice or convenience of the parties so

require. Following adjudication, the receiving court

may transfer the case back to the county of the

child's legal residence as provided in this section.

4. For purposes of this section, the residence of the child
t to Section 1-4-603 of

this title, a case may be transferred to a venue where

the evidence or witnesses are located when the

interests of justice or convenience of the parties so

require. Following adjudication, the receiving court

may transfer the case back to the county of the

child's legal residence as provided in this section.

4. For purposes of this section, the residence of the child

shall be the residence of the person who has the legal right to

physical custody of the child according to a prior court order or by

operation of law.

a. If there is no order determining the custody of the

child, the custodian of the child shall be:

(1) both parents where they reside together,

(2) the primary or actual physical custodial parent

where parents do not reside together, or

(3) the mother where paternity has or has not been

established.

b. The residence of a newborn child shall be deemed to be

the county where the child's mother legally resided at

the time of the child's birth.

c. When the child is in the permanent custody of a public

or private child care agency, the residence of the

child shall be the county in which the child resides

at the time when legal proceedings are initiated.

d. For purposes of transfer, the residence of the child

may be with the person that the court approves for

permanent placement.

5. The court may request the transfer of the case to another

county where the child resides.

a. Prior to transferring a case to another venue, the

court shall contact the judge in the other venue to

confirm that the judge in the other venue will accept

the transfer.

b. Upon written confirmation that transfer of venue is

accepted, the transferring judge shall enter the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 10A. Children and Juvenile Code Page 72

transfer order, and certified copies of all documents

of record with the clerk of the transferring court

shall be transmitted to the receiving court along with

the names and addresses of all parties entitled to

notice of any further proceedings.

c. Upon transfer of the case, the receiving court shall

set a hearing date for the parties that is not more

than thirty (30) days following the date upon which

the change of venue has occurred.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.