A. It is the duty of the clerk of each of the courts to file together and carefully preserve in his office, all papers delivered to him for that purpose, except as provided in subsection B of this section, in every action or special proceeding.
B. The court clerk may refuse to file any document presented for filing if the clerk believes that the document constitutes sham legal process, as defined by Section 1533 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
C. 1. Any person aggrieved by the refusal of a court clerk to file any document provided for in subsection A of this section may petition the district court for a writ of mandamus to compel the clerk to file the tendered document.
2. At the time of refusal, the person aggrieved shall file a notice of refusal with the court clerk for the purpose of tolling any applicable statute of limitations in the event the person prevails in any action so commenced, if the person wishes for the statute of limitations to be tolled. The refusal notice shall be submitted on a form provided by the court clerk, but must be filled out by the aggrieved party. A copy of the instrument that the clerk refused to file must be attached to the notice of refusal. The court clerk shall stamp the date of refusal on the notice of refusal.
The refusal notice shall be in the following form:
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
__________ COUNTY
NOTICE OF REFUSAL
The Office of Court Clerk of __________ County, Oklahoma, has on __________ (date) refused to file a document designated ___________ (title of document or brief description of document). A copy of the refused document must be attached to this notice of refusal or the clerk cannot accept it for filing.
_______County, Oklahoma
3. The action for mandamus must be filed with the district court within twenty (20) days after the notice of refusal is filed with the county clerk. If the writ of mandamus is granted, the court clerk shall refund the fee for filing the action. Notice of the pendency of a mandamus action filed pursuant to this section shall be filed in accordance with Section 2004.2 of this title. If the court determines that the tendered document is not sham legal process, the court shall order the clerk to file the tendered paper or papers. For any instrument which the court orders to be filed pursuant to this subsection, the date of filing shall be retroactive to the date the notice of refusal was filed.
D. If a court clerk improperly files or refuses to file a document provided for in subsection B of this section, the clerk shall be immune from liability for such action in any civil suit.
E. A clerk shall post a sign, in letters at least one (1) inch in height, that is clearly visible to the general public in or near the clerk's office stating that it is a felony to intentionally or knowingly file or attempt to file sham legal process with the clerk. Failure of the clerk to post such a sign shall not create a defense to any criminal or civil action based on sham legal process.
R.L. 1910, § 5329. Amended by Laws 1997, c. 405, § 2, emerg. eff. June 13, 1997.