Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 10A-1-4-601

This is the official text of Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 10A-1-4-601, 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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Adjudication hearing

Official statutory text

A. The court shall hold an adjudication hearing following the

filing of a petition alleging that a child is deprived. The hearing

shall be held not more than ninety (90) calendar days following the

filing of the petition. The child and the child’s parents,

guardian, or other legal custodian shall be entitled to not less

than twenty (20) days’ prior notice of the hearing.

B. 1. The child shall be released from emergency custody in

the event the adjudication hearing is delayed beyond ninety (90)

days from the date the petition is filed unless the court issues a

written order with findings of fact supporting a determination that:

a. there exists reasonable suspicion that the health,

safety, or welfare of the child would be in imminent

danger if the child were returned to the home, and

b. there exists either an exceptional circumstance to

support the continuance of the child in emergency

custody or the parties and the guardian ad litem, if

any, agree to such continuance.

2. If the adjudicatory hearing is delayed pursuant to this

subsection, the emergency custody order shall expire unless the

hearing on the merits of the petition is held within one hundred

eighty (180) days after the actual removal of the child.

C. The release of a child from emergency custody due to the

failure of an adjudication hearing being held within the time frame

prescribed by this section shall not deprive the court of

jurisdiction over the child and the parties or authority to enter

temporary orders the court deems necessary to provide for the

health, safety, and welfare of the child pending the hearing on the

petition.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 10A. Children and Juvenile Code Page 104

D. At the adjudication hearing, if the court finds that it is

in the best interest of the child, the court shall:

1. Accept a stipulation by the child’s parent, guardian, or

other legal custodian that the facts alleged in the petition are

true and correct;

2. Accept a stipulation by the child’s parent, guardian, or

other legal custodian that if the state presented its evidence

supporting the truth of the factual allegations in the petition to a

court of competent jurisdiction, such evidence would be sufficient

to meet the state’s burden of proving by a preponderance of the

evidence that the factual allegations are true and correct; or

3. Conduct a nonjury trial to determine whether the state has

met its burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that

the factual allegations in the petition are true and correct.

E. 1. A decision determining a child to be deprived in a

nonjury trial shall be based on sworn testimony.

2. The child, as a party to the proceeding, shall be given the

opportunity to cross-examine witnesses and to present a case in

chief if desired.

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.