Civil procedure; creating the Expedited Actions Act; expedited actions; trial process; effective date.
HB1564 creates the Oklahoma Expedited Actions Act, a new civil procedure track for lower-value lawsuits. The expedited process applies when all claimants, other than counterclaimants, affirmatively seek only monetary relief of $250,000 or less, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages, penalties, attorney fees, and costs. A party proceeding under the act cannot recover more than that amount, and the case can be removed from the expedited track if a party shows good cause or if a claimant later seeks relief outside the statute’s limits.
The bill imposes a compressed litigation schedule and tighter discovery rules. Discovery must generally be completed within a 180-day period, with limits on deposition hours, interrogatories, requests for production, and requests for admissions. Once discovery ends, a party may request a trial setting within 90 days, and the court may continue the case only twice for up to 60 total days. The act also limits each side to 8 hours for trial presentation, allows a short court-referred alternative dispute resolution process, and restricts when parties may challenge expert testimony admissibility. The act is set to take effect November 1, 2025.
HB1564 would add new sections to Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes and create a specialized civil case management framework for qualifying lawsuits. It would affect civil litigants, attorneys, and courts by limiting damages recovery in the expedited track, shortening discovery, accelerating trial settings, capping trial time, and narrowing procedural opportunities for expert challenges. The measure is intended to streamline lower-value civil cases and reduce litigation time and expense.
The available voting record suggests strong support for the bill. It passed the House Civil Judiciary Committee 8-0, the House Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight Committee 13-0, and the House on third reading 83-1. No committee transcripts were provided, so there is no recorded debate to indicate organized opposition or detailed concerns in the materials supplied.
The main points of potential contention are the bill’s strict procedural limits and the $250,000 recovery cap for cases using the expedited process. Plaintiffs may view the shortened discovery window, deposition and written discovery limits, and compressed trial schedule as restricting case development, while defendants may favor the faster, lower-cost process. Another possible issue is the rule governing removal from the expedited track, since adding claims outside the monetary limit can trigger a return to ordinary procedure and reopen discovery. The expert-testimony provision may also draw attention because it limits when admissibility challenges can be raised.