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Okla. Stat. tit. 56, § 56-185

This is the official text of Okla. Stat. tit. 56, § 56-185, part of Oklahoma’s Stat. tit. 56, — part of the compiled statutory law of Oklahoma, published by the state as "Stat. tit. 56,." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Fraud in obtaining assistance - Penalties - Signage

Official statutory text

A. Any person who:

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 56. Poor Persons Page 60

1. Obtains or attempts to obtain, or aids, abets or assists any

person to obtain, by means of a false statement or representation,

by false impersonation, by a fictitious transfer, conveyance or

encumbrance of property or income, by a knowing and willful failure

to report to the Department of Human Services income, personal

property, real property, household members, or other material

eligibility factors at the time of application or during the receipt

of assistance, or by other fraudulent device, assistance to which an

applicant is not entitled or assistance greater than that to which

an applicant is justly entitled; or

2. By sale, barter, purchase, theft, acquisition, possession or

use of any electronic benefits or debit card or any other device

authorizing participation in the Temporary Assistance for Needy

Families or other program of the Department, knowingly obtains,

aids, abets or assists any person to obtain or attempt to obtain

assistance to which a person is not entitled,

shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, if the aggregate amount of

assistance received as a result thereof is Five Hundred Dollars

($500.00) or less. Upon conviction thereof, such person shall be

fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or be imprisoned

for not more than three (3) months or be both so fined and

imprisoned in the discretion of the court; provided, however, if the

aggregate amount of assistance received as a result thereof is in

excess of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), such person shall be

guilty of a Class D3 felony offense and, upon conviction thereof,

shall be fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or

be imprisoned as provided for in subsections B through F of Section

20P of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or be subject to both such

fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.

B. Every county Department of Human Services office in this

state shall conspicuously post a sign in an area clearly visible to

all visitors of the county office which shall provide information

about how to report individuals who have obtained public assistance

through fraudulent means or who have used public assistance in a

manner not consistent with its intended use. The sign shall make

reference to the Department of Human Services fraud hotline and

provide the current phone number for the hotline. The sign shall

also contain notification that all reports to the hotline may be

filed anonymously by persons suspecting fraudulent activity.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the identity of

any person making a report on another individual who may have

obtained public assistance through fraudulent means, or an

individual using public assistance in a manner not consistent with

its intended use, shall not be revealed without the permission of

the person making the report.

Added by State Question No. 226, Initiative Petition No. 155, § 26,

adopted July 7, 1936. Amended by Laws 1973, c. 60, § 1, emerg. eff.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 56. Poor Persons Page 61

April 27, 1973; Laws 1985, c. 58, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1985; Laws 1997,

c. 133, § 499, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 1999, c. 17, § 2, emerg. eff.

April 5, 1999; Laws 1999, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 5, § 364, eff. July 1,

1999; Laws 2013, c. 67, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2013; Laws 2025, c. 486, §

719, eff. Jan. 1, 2026.

NOTE: Laws 1998, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 2, § 23 amended the effective

date of Laws 1997, c. 133, § 499 from July 1, 1998, to July 1, 1999.

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.