Oklahoma Statutes
Title 51. Officers
§51-152v2. Definitions.

As used in The Governmental Tort Claims Act:

1. "Action" means a proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction by which one party brings a suit against another;
2. "Agency" means any board, commission, committee, department or other instrumentality or entity designated to act in behalf of the state or a political subdivision;
3. "Charitable health care provider" means a person who is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this state to administer health care in the ordinary course of business or the practice of a profession and who provides care to a medically indigent person, as defined in paragraph 9 of this section, with no expectation of or acceptance of compensation of any kind;
4. "Claim" means any written demand presented by a claimant or the claimant's authorized representative in accordance with the Governmental Tort Claims Act to recover money from the state or political subdivision as compensation for an act or omission of a political subdivision or the state or an employee;
5. "Claimant" means the person or the person's authorized representative who files notice of a claim in accordance with The Governmental Tort Claims Act. Only the following persons and no others may be claimants:
6. "Community health care provider" means:
7. "Employee" means any person who is authorized to act in behalf of a political subdivision or the state whether that person is acting on a permanent or temporary basis, with or without being compensated or on a full-time or part-time basis.
8. "Loss" means death or injury to the body or rights of a person or damage to real or personal property or rights therein;
9. "Medically indigent" means a person requiring medically necessary hospital or other health care services for the person or the dependents of the person who has no public or private third-party coverage, and whose personal resources are insufficient to provide for needed health care;
10. "Municipality" means any incorporated city or town, and all institutions, agencies or instrumentalities of a municipality;
11. "Political subdivision" means:
and all their institutions, instrumentalities or agencies;
12. "Scope of employment" means performance by an employee acting in good faith within the duties of the employee's office or employment or of tasks lawfully assigned by a competent authority including the operation or use of an agency vehicle or equipment with actual or implied consent of the supervisor of the employee, but shall not include corruption or fraud;
13. "State" means the State of Oklahoma or any office, department, agency, authority, commission, board, institution, hospital, college, university, public trust created pursuant to Title 60 of the Oklahoma Statutes of which the State of Oklahoma is the beneficiary, or other instrumentality thereof;
14. "State active duty" shall be defined in accordance with Section 801 of Title 44 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
15. "State military forces" shall be defined in accordance with Section 801 of Title 44 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
16. "Title 32 active duty" shall be defined in accordance with Section 801 of Title 44 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
17. "Tort" means a legal wrong, independent of contract, involving violation of a duty imposed by general law, statute, the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, or otherwise, resulting in a loss to any person, association or corporation as the proximate result of an act or omission of a political subdivision or the state or an employee acting within the scope of employment.
Added by Laws 1978, c. 203, § 2, eff. July 1, 1978. Amended by Laws 1979, c. 280, § 1, eff. July 1, 1979; Laws 1984, c. 226, § 2, eff. Oct. 1, 1985; Laws 1986, c. 95, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1986; Laws 1986, c. 257, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 1986; Laws 1986, c. 247, § 21, operative July 1, 1986; Laws 1987, c. 123, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1987; Laws 1987, c. 234, § 1, eff. July 1, 1987; Laws 1989, c. 286, § 8, emerg. eff. May 24, 1989; Laws 1990, c. 313, § 1, emerg. eff. May 30, 1990; Laws 1991, c. 55, § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Laws 1991, c. 250, § 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Laws 1992, c. 69, § 26, emerg. eff. April 13, 1992; Laws 1993, c. 177, § 4, emerg. eff. May 13, 1993; Laws 1994, c. 329, § 10, eff. July 1, 1994; Laws 2000, c. 59, § 2, emerg. eff. April 14, 2000; Laws 2001, c. 42, § 1, eff. July 1, 2002; Laws 2002, c. 462, § 2, eff. July 1, 2002; Laws 2003, c. 193, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2003; Laws 2003, c. 304, § 1, emerg. eff. May 28, 2003; Laws 2004, c. 46, § 1, eff. July 1, 2004; Laws 2004, c. 368, § 19, eff. Nov. 1, 2004; Laws 2007, c. 139, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2007; Laws 2008, c. 348, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2008; Laws 2009, c. 315, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2009; Laws 2010, c. 2, § 21, emerg. eff. March 3, 2010; Laws 2010, c. 134, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2010; Laws 2010, c. 255, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2010; Laws 2014, c. 77, § 1, emerg. eff. April 21, 2014; Laws 2018, c. 233, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2018; Laws 2021, c. 12, § 28, emerg. eff. April 13, 2021; Laws 2022, c. 228, § 18, emerg. eff. May 5, 2022.
NOTE: Laws 1984, c. 228, § 1 repealed by Laws 1985, c. 357, § 5, eff. Oct. 1, 1985. Laws 1987, c. 82, § 1 repealed by Laws 1987, c. 234, § 2, eff. July 1, 1987. Section 1 of Vetoed House Bill No. 2637 of 2001 repealed by Laws 2002, c. 462, § 5, eff. July 1, 2002. Laws 2009, c. 234, § 143 repealed by Laws 2010, c. 2, § 22, emerg. eff. March 3, 2010. Laws 2009, c. 313, § 1 repealed by Laws 2010, c. 2, § 23, emerg. eff. March 3, 2010. Laws 2021, c. 41, § 1 repealed by Laws 2022, c. 228, § 19, emerg. eff. May 5, 2022. Laws 2021, c. 241, § 1 repealed by Laws 2022, c. 228, § 20, emerg. eff. May 5, 2022.
NOTE: The effective date of Laws 2001, c. 42, § 1 was amended from Nov. 1, 2001, to July 1, 2002, by Laws 2001, 1st Ex. Sess., c. 4, § 1, emerg. eff. Oct. 24, 2001.

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