Oklahoma revises steps for judicial disqualification and recusal motions

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma adopted an amendment to District Court Rule 15 on April 6, 2026, with an effective date of June 1. The rule’s corrected redline and clean text set out the amended procedure.

The revised rule requires a non-ex-parte in-camera request to the trial judge before a formal motion to disqualify or recuse. If that request is not satisfactorily resolved, the motion may be filed under 20 O.S. § 1403, but not fewer than ten days before trial and within ten days after the judge denies the in-camera request. A copy must be delivered to the judge’s chambers. The assigned judge may continue before the formal motion is filed.

A party may seek rehearing before the county Chief Judge, or the Presiding Judge when seeking disqualification of a Chief Judge, within five days of the denial. If rehearing is adverse, the movant has no more than five days to institute mandamus proceedings in the appropriate appellate court. The rule also revises what “overruled of record” means: the request must have been denied at each review stage, or the applicable periods for further review must have expired. The clean text and corrected redline also update language across civil and criminal proceedings, including time computation and the distinction between the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals for mandamus.

Rule 15 applies to civil and criminal cases generally, so the rule governs procedure rather than changing a family-law merits standard. In family cases, the stated motion and review deadlines make the court’s recusal process particularly time-sensitive.