Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-20 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-20
Counties with population in excess of 550,000 - Power to
Status: in_force

declare and abate nuisances.

The board of county commissioners of any county in this state

with a population in excess of five hundred fifty thousand (550,000)

may declare what shall constitute a nuisance, and provide for the

prevention, removal and abatement of nuisances for those properties

acquired by the county through resale and any property located

within an unincorporated area of the county.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-5 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-5
Persons liable
Status: in_force

Every successive owner of property who neglects to abate a

continuing nuisance upon, or in the use of such property, created by

a former owner, is liable therefor in the same manner as the one who

first created it.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-17 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-17
Abatement by suit in district court
Status: in_force

In cases where it is deemed impractical summarily to abate any

such nuisance such city or town may bring suit in the district court

of the county in which such nuisance is located, and it is hereby

made the duty of the governing body of any such city or town, by the

adoption of a resolution to direct the bringing of suit in the

proper court for the purpose of abating any such nuisance. The

district court of the county in which any such nuisance exists or is

maintained shall have jurisdiction of any such case and power to

adjudge and determine any action brought under the provisions

hereof, and where it is adjudged that any such nuisance exists or is

maintained and should be abated, such court shall have the power and

authority either by and through a commissioner appointed by such

court, or otherwise, to cause such nuisance to be abated and to

assess all the costs thereof, including the costs of suit, against

the property on which such nuisance existed or is maintained, and to

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 50. Nuisances Page 5

declare such costs a judgment against said property and order and

direct the sale of said property for the purpose of satisfying said

judgment and shall cause the same to be sold and proceeds thereof

applied to the payment of the costs of abating any such nuisance.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-3 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-3
Private nuisance
Status: in_force

Every nuisance not included in the definition of the last

section is private.

R.L. 1910, § 4252.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-42.1 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-42.1
Authority of municipal governing bodies to permit burial
Status: in_force

locations.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 42 of Title 50 of the

Oklahoma Statutes, governing boards of any incorporated municipality

shall be authorized to permit the burial of human remains or the

relocation of human remains to a new burial place on the grounds of

a public institution or private facility located within the

municipal boundaries which the governing board deems appropriate.

Provided, such burial ground shall not be used for commercial

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 50. Nuisances Page 7

cemetery purposes nor shall the governing body permit burial sites

on any private residential property.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-14 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-14
Abatement of private nuisance
Status: in_force

A person injured by a private nuisance may abate it by removing,

or, if necessary, destroying the thing which constitutes the

nuisance, without committing a breach of the peace or doing

unnecessary injury.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-1.1 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-1.1
Agricultural activities as nuisance
Status: in_force

A. As used in this section:

1. "Agricultural activities" includes, but is not limited to,

the growing or raising of horticultural and viticultural crops,

berries, poultry, livestock, aquaculture, grain, mint, hay, dairy

products and forestry activities. "Agricultural activities" also

includes improvements or expansion to the activities provided for in

this paragraph including, but not limited to, new technology, pens,

barns, fences, and other improvements designed for the sheltering,

restriction, or feeding of animal or aquatic life, for storage of

produce or feed, or for storage or maintenance of implements. If

the expansion is part of the same operating facility, the expansion

need not be contiguous;

2. "Farmland" includes, but is not limited to, land devoted

primarily to production of livestock or agricultural commodities;

and

3. "Forestry activity" means any activity associated with the

reforesting, growing, managing, protecting and harvesting of timber,

wood and forest products including, but not limited to, forestry

buildings and structures.

B. Agricultural activities conducted on farm or ranch land, if

consistent with good agricultural practices and established prior to

nearby nonagricultural activities, are presumed to be reasonable and

do not constitute a nuisance unless the activity has a substantial

adverse effect on the public health and safety.

If that agricultural activity is undertaken in conformity with

federal, state and local laws and regulations, it is presumed to be

good agricultural practice and not adversely affecting the public

health and safety.

C. No action for nuisance shall be brought against agricultural

activities on farm or ranch land which has lawfully been in

operation for two (2) years or more prior to the date of bringing

the action. The established date of operation is the date on which

an agricultural activity on farm or ranch land commenced. The

established date of operation for each change is not a separately

and independently established date of operation and commencement of

the expanded activity does not divest the farm or ranch of a

previously established date of operation if:

1. The physical facilities of the farm or ranch are

subsequently expanded or new technology adopted;

2. The farming or ranching is interrupted for no more than

three (3) years; or

3. The farm or ranch participates in a government-sponsored

agricultural program.

D. In any action for nuisance brought against agricultural

activities on farm or ranch land pursuant to this section:

1. The court or jury shall determine the amount of noneconomic

damages separately from the amount of compensation for all other

damages; and

2. Noneconomic damages awarded to a plaintiff shall not exceed

three times the amount of compensatory damages or Two Hundred Fifty

Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00), whichever amount is greater.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 50. Nuisances Page 2

E. In any action for nuisance in which agricultural activities

are alleged to be a nuisance, and which action is found to be

frivolous or malicious by the court, the defendant shall recover the

aggregate amount of costs and expenses determined by the court to

have been reasonably incurred in connection with defending the

action, together with reasonable attorney fees.

F. This section does not relieve agricultural activities of the

duty to abide by state and federal laws, including, but not limited

to, the Oklahoma Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Act and the

Oklahoma Registered Poultry Feeding Operations Act.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-16 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-16
Cities and towns - Power to define and summarily abate
Status: in_force

nuisances.

A. Cities and towns in this state shall have the right and

power to determine what is and what shall constitute a nuisance

within their respective corporate limits, and for the protection of

the public health, the public parks and the public water supply,

shall have such power outside of the corporate limits; and wherever

it is practical so to do, the cities and towns shall have the power

summarily to abate any such nuisance after notice to the owner, and

an opportunity for him to be heard, if this can be given. Any

action conducted by critical infrastructure sectors shall not

constitute a nuisance when the applicable industry acts in

compliance with or acts consistently with government rules,

guidelines, laws and municipal ordinances or laws applicable to

their sector.

B. For purposes of this section, "critical infrastructure

sectors" means any of the critical infrastructure sectors identified

by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) whose

assets, systems and networks, whether physical or virtual, are

considered so vital to the United States and the state that the

sectors' incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating

effect on security, economic security, public health or safety or

any combination thereof.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-7 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-7
Time does not legalize
Status: in_force

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 50. Nuisances Page 3

No lapse of time can legalize a public nuisance, amounting to an

actual obstruction of public right.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-44 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-44
Duty of officers
Status: in_force

It shall be the duty of any sheriff, constable or other police

officer to make complaint against such nuisance and hasten its

abatement as herein provided.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-42 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-42
Cemeteries
Status: in_force

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or

association to lay out, establish, or use for burial purposes any

cemetery, graveyard or burial grounds less than three-fourths (3/4)

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 50. Nuisances Page 6

of one (1) mile from the incorporated line of any city of more than

five thousand (5,000) inhabitants within this state, or within four

(4) miles from the incorporated line of any city of this state,

having a population of more than sixty-five thousand (65,000)

inhabitants, and then within three-fourths (3/4) of one (1) mile

from any tract of land plotted into lots or blocks, or otherwise

subdivided for residence purposes, wherein lots, tracts, or blocks

have been sold in good faith for residence purposes prior to the

time of the location, opening, or use for such burial ground,

graveyard or cemetery. Provided, that where cemeteries, graveyards

or burial grounds have heretofore been used and maintained within

less than three-fourths (3/4) of one (1) mile from the incorporated

line of any city of more than five thousand (5,000) inhabitants

within this state, or not less than four (4) miles from the

incorporated line of any city of this state, having a population of

more than sixty-five thousand (65,000) inhabitants, and not less

than three-fourths (3/4) of one (1) mile from any tract of land

plotted into lots or blocks, or otherwise subdivided for residence

purposes, wherein lots, tracts or blocks have been sold in good

faith for residence purposes, and additional lands are required for

cemetery purposes, any person owning lands adjacent, may lay out and

use, or sell the same to such cemetery to be used as an addition to

such cemetery, and the use of such additional lands for such

purposes shall not be prohibited hereby. Provided, however, that

the provisions of this act shall not apply to the laying out,

establishing, or using for burial purposes any cemetery, graveyard

or burial ground in cities containing a population over three

hundred thousand (300,000), according to the preceding Federal

Decennial Census, whenever authority for such construction and

operation has been obtained from a governmental planning commission

having jurisdiction over zoning and building regulations covering

the area wherein such cemetery, or burial ground is proposed to be

located.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-10 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-10
Civil action
Status: in_force

A private person may maintain an action for a public nuisance if

it is specially injurious to himself, but not otherwise.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-21 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-21
Real property used for drug distribution, prostitution, or
Status: in_force

human or sex trafficking.

The repeated use of any real property or structure thereon to

commit unlawful drug distribution, prostitution, or human and/or sex

trafficking acts shall constitute a public nuisance.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-8 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-8
Remedies against public nuisance
Status: in_force

The remedies against a public nuisance are:

1. Indictment or information, or;

2. A civil action, or;

3. Abatement;
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-1 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-1
Nuisance defined
Status: in_force

A nuisance consists in unlawfully doing an act, or omitting to

perform a duty, which act or omission either:

First. Annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose,

health, or safety of others; or

Second. Offends decency; or

Third. Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to

obstruct, or renders dangerous for passage, any lake or navigable

river, stream, canal or basin, or any public park, square, street or

highway; or

Fourth. In any way renders other persons insecure in life, or

in the use of property, provided, this section shall not apply to

preexisting agricultural activities.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-41 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-41
Location of slaughterhouse
Status: in_force

It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain a slaughterhouse

within less than one-half (1/2) mile of any tract of land platted

into lots and blocks as an addition to any town or city within the

State of Oklahoma, except in conformity with the zoning ordinances

of said town or city, or to maintain such a slaughterhouse within

one-half (1/2) mile of any tract of land platted into acre tracts

for the purpose of being sold for residence, and in which tracts of

land have actually been sold for residence purposes outside of such

a town or city.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-15 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-15
Notice, when required
Status: in_force

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 50. Nuisances Page 4

Where a private nuisance results from a mere omission of the

wrongdoer, and cannot be abated without entering upon his land,

reasonable notice must be given to him before entering to abate it.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-13 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-13
Remedies against private nuisance
Status: in_force

The remedies against a private nuisance are:

1. A civil action; or,

2. Abatement.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-12 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-12
Abatement by person injured
Status: in_force

Any person may abate a public nuisance which is specially

injurious to him, by removing or, if necessary, destroying the thing

which constitutes the same, without committing a breach of the peace

or doing unnecessary injury.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-9 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-9
Indictment or information
Status: in_force

The remedy by indictment or information is regulated by the law

on crimes and punishment and criminal procedure.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-11 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-11
Abatement by officer
Status: in_force

A public nuisance may be abated by any public body or officer

authorized thereto by law.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-6 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-6
Abatement does not preclude damages
Status: in_force

The abatement of a nuisance does not prejudice the right of any

person to recover damages for its past existence.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-2 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-2
Public nuisance
Status: in_force

A public nuisance is one which affects at the same time an

entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of

persons, although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted

upon the individuals may be unequal.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-4 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-4
Statute authority
Status: in_force

Nothing which is done or maintained under the express authority

of a statute can be deemed a nuisance.
Okla. Stat. tit. 50, § 50-43 — OK Code / Title 50 / Section 50-43
Nuisance may be enjoined
Status: in_force

The maintaining of any slaughterhouse or location and use of any

graveyard or cemetery in violation of the provisions of this

article, is declared to be a nuisance, and any person owning real

estate within any such addition to a town or city, or within lands

so platted and set apart to be sold for residence purposes may

maintain an action in the courts to abate such nuisance and to

enjoin their continuance, and if it appears that they are being

carried on in violation of this article, a perpetual injunction

shall be granted against the parties maintaining such nuisance.