Court Districts and Divisions

• There are three U.S. Bankruptcy Courts in Oklahoma. The Northern District is based in Tulsa and serves the 11 counties of northeast Oklahoma, namely Osage, Pawnee, Creek, Tulsa, Washington, Nowata, Rogers, Craig, Ottawa, Mayes and Delaware. The Eastern District is located in Okmulgee, serving the counties from Okfuskee south to Love and all points east. The Western District, the largest of the three, is in Oklahoma City and covers the remaining counties to the west. The address and phone number of the courthouse in each district is available through the court websites (see link in Resources). Each district serves several counties in the state.
  
  

Means Test and Exemptions

• The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 created a means test for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Under these new laws, a Chapter 7 debtor must earn below the state median income for his household size to qualify automatically. The annual statistics are published by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2009, the median income for a single wage earner in Oklahoma was $38,244. For a family of two, it was $51,322; for three, it was $54,494. For families of four, the median income was $62,049 and $6,900 should be added for each individual family member. Bankruptcy debtors should also note that the state of Oklahoma does not allow use of the federal property exemptions. Oklahoma's exemptions include an unlimited value for a homestead; $3,000 for a motor vehicle; $4,000 for clothing; one gun; $5,000 worth of implements needed for employment and 75 percent of all wages earned within 90 days of filing.
  
  

Local Rules

• The local rules for each district govern the procedure for filing documents with the clerk and the progress of the case. It is essential to read the local rules of the appropriate court prior to preparing a bankruptcy filing. For example, the Northern District requires all documents be filed electronically via its online Electronic Case Filing (ECF) system. The Eastern and Western Districts accept paper documents, but they have differing requirements as to the number of copies (an original plus three in the Eastern District, but original plus five for Chapter 13 in the Western District). According to the local rules, all three districts require filing fee payment at the time of filing, unless permission is granted to pay in installments.