Historic Oklahoma Divorce Laws
In historical Oklahoma, divorce jurisdiction varied among Native American Nations, with Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Muskogee courts overseeing cases and maintaining records. The Choctaw Nation uniquely mandated clerks to use a “large blank book” for record-keeping. Post-1890, Nebraska’s laws, followed by Arkansas’s laws under the Organic Act, governed divorces in Oklahoma Territory, initially placing jurisdiction in district courts. By 1895, sole authority rested with district courts. Divorce records reported to the state board of health starting in 1908 were poorly complied with, resulting in a lack of health department records of divorces.
