A. Scope. This section applies to all judgments of courts of record of this state, and judgments of courts of record of the United States not subject to the registration procedures of the Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act, which award the payment of money, regardless of whether such judgments also include other orders or relief.
B. Creation of Lien. A judgment to which this section applies shall be a lien on the real estate of the judgment debtor within a county only from and after a Statement of Judgment made by the judgment creditor or the judgment creditor's attorney, substantially in the form prescribed by the Administrative Director of the Courts, has been filed in the office of the county clerk in that county.
1. Presentation of a Statement of Judgment and tender of the filing fee, shall, upon acceptance by the county clerk, constitute filing under this section.
2. A lien created pursuant to this section shall affect and attach to all real property, including the homestead, of judgment debtors whose names appear in the Statement of Judgment; however, judgment liens on a homestead are exempt from forced sale pursuant to Section 1 of Title 31 of the Oklahoma Statutes and Section 2 of Article XII of the Oklahoma Constitution.
C. Judgment Index. A judgment index shall be kept by each county clerk in which the name of each person named as a judgment debtor in a Statement of Judgment filed with the county clerk shall appear in alphabetical order.
1. It shall be the duty of the county clerk, immediately after the filing of the Statement of Judgment, to make in the judgment index a separate entry in alphabetical order of the name of each judgment debtor named therein, which entry shall also contain the name(s) of the judgment creditor(s), the name of the court which granted the judgment, the number and style of the case in which the judgment was filed, the amount of the judgment, including interest, costs and attorney's fees if shown on the Statement of Judgment, the date of the filing of the judgment with the court clerk of the court which granted it, and the date of filing of the Statement of Judgment with the county clerk.
2. It shall also be the duty of the county clerk, immediately after the filing of a Release of Judgment Lien, to make a notation in each entry in the judgment index made when any Statement of Judgment was filed with respect to the judgment being released, of the date of filing of the Release with the county clerk, the name of the judgment creditor on whose behalf the Release is filed, and whether the Release states that it is only a partial Release.
D. Execution of Judgment. Execution shall be issued only from the court which granted the judgment being enforced.
E. Release of Lien of Judgment. The lien of a judgment upon the real estate of judgment debtor in any county, which has not become unenforceable by operation of law, is released only upon the filing in the office of the county clerk in that county of a Release of Judgment Lien, or a copy thereof certified by the court clerk of the court which granted the judgment.
1. A judgment lien may be released, in whole or in part, by filing a Release of Judgment Lien with the county clerk by the judgment creditor or his or her attorney.
2. The lien of any judgment which has been satisfied in full, vacated or become dormant or otherwise unenforceable and which has not been released by the judgment creditor shall be released by the court upon written motion.
F. Effect of Filing or Recording a Judgment. The filing or recording of a judgment itself in the office of a county clerk on or after October 1, 1993, shall not be effective to create a general money judgment lien upon real estate, but a certified copy of a judgment may be recorded in such office for the purpose of giving notice of its contents whether or not recording is required by law.
G. Acceptance by County Clerk. The county clerk shall accept for filing and file any Statement of Judgment or Release of Judgment Lien without requiring any formalities of execution other than those provided in this section.
R.L.1910, § 5148. Amended by Laws 1931, p. 3, § 1, emerg. eff. April 21, 1931; Laws 1943, p. 34, § 1, emerg. eff. April 13, 1943; Laws 1978, c. 138, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1978; Laws 1983, c. 56, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1983; Laws 1988, c. 102, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1988; Laws 1990, c. 251, § 19, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Laws 1991, c. 251, § 9, eff. June 1, 1991; Laws 1993, c. 351, § 13, eff. Oct. 1, 1993; Laws 1997, c. 320, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1997; Laws 2011, c. 187, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2011.