Court Clerks Can Refuse To File Your Lawsuit

  It's called a 'Sham Provision'. The state code actually uses the term to refer to frivolous legal initiatives in our civil court system. the law allows a County Court Clerk to exercise personal and professional judgment to determine if a petition to the court is a waste of time, mockery of the court, or worse.

  But fear not, there are remedies to overcome the potential abuse of power. One is a 'writ of mandamus'. And the clerk must present that demand for review to the judge.

  Don't let the Latin words fool you. Lawyers use that stuff all the time to try to either impress or intimidate us.  Mandamus means 'we command'. We derive the word 'mandate' from that original root word.

§12-29.  Clerks to file and preserve papers - Refusal to file sham legal process.

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.