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. Cases in this track are subject to a faster schedule, tighter discovery limits, shorter trial settings, and capped trial time, with the goal of moving eligible civil cases to resolution more quickly and at lower cost.
Under the bill, discovery must be completed within a 180-day discovery period, with limits of 20 total deposition hours per party, 15 interrogatories, 15 requests for production, and 15 requests for admissions. A trial must be set within 90 days after discovery ends, with only limited continuances allowed. The bill also authorizes a single, limited alternative dispute resolution session and restricts when parties may challenge expert testimony, generally requiring such challenges to be raised as objections to summary judgment evidence, at a pretrial conference, or at trial. The act is scheduled to take effect November 1, 2025.
HB1564 would add new sections to Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes and create a separate expedited civil docket for qualifying cases. It changes civil procedure by limiting the amount in controversy, discovery tools, deposition time, trial length, and the timing of trial settings, while also establishing rules for removal from the expedited process and reopening discovery if a case leaves that track. The bill would affect civil litigants, attorneys, trial courts, and cases involving monetary claims at or below the statutory threshold, including some divorce-related discovery timing provisions referenced in the text.
The available voting history suggests the bill has generally been received positively in the House. It passed the House Civil Judiciary Committee 8-0, the House Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight Committee 13-0, and the House floor 83-1, indicating broad bipartisan support and little visible opposition at those stages. No committee transcripts were provided, so the record reflects strong procedural approval rather than detailed debate.
The main points of potential contention are the bill’s strict procedural limits and the $250,000 cap on eligible claims. Parties seeking broader discovery, more deposition time, or more flexibility in trial preparation may view the expedited rules as too restrictive, while supporters likely see them as necessary to reduce delay and expense. Another possible issue is the bill’s limitation on challenging expert testimony, which could be seen as narrowing pretrial litigation options. The near-unanimous committee votes suggest these concerns did not generate significant recorded opposition in the available history.