Tenth Circuit · Oklahoma

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma has processed 50,230 federal bankruptcy filings in the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, ranking 85th of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total case volume, with Chapter 7 accounting for 72.94% of classified filings.

Data updated . Methodology & sources.
50,230Total cases (FJC IDB)
1,869FY 2025 filings
26.27%Chapter 13 share
72.94%Chapter 7 share
29.29%Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
0.0%RECAP coverage

National rank: 85th of 94 by total case volume (11th percentile). See all rankings below.

Section 01Filing Volume

Annual federal bankruptcy filings in E.D. Okla., FY 2010–2026. The most recent fiscal year is rendered with a muted marker to indicate its incomplete status.

FY2010: 4,167 filingsFY2011: 3,719 filingsFY2012: 3,269 filingsFY2013: 2,891 filingsFY2014: 2,604 filingsFY2015: 2,541 filingsFY2016: 2,357 filingsFY2017: 2,481 filingsFY2018: 2,538 filingsFY2019: 2,576 filingsFY2020: 2,180 filingsFY2021: 1,584 filingsFY2022: 1,258 filingsFY2023: 1,523 filingsFY2024: 1,643 filingsFY2025: 1,869 filingsFY2026: 335 filings (incomplete — current FY)2010201220142016201820202022202420264,1670

Section 02Chapter Mix

Distribution of cases filed in E.D. Okla. by bankruptcy chapter. Computed over the 50,228 cases with a non-blank chapter code in the FJC IDB.

Chapter 7: 36,638 cases (72.9%)Ch 7 72.9%Chapter 13: 13,195 cases (26.3%)Ch 13 26.3%Chapter 11: 242 cases (0.5%)Chapter 12: 113 cases (0.2%)Chapter 9: 37 cases (0.1%)Chapter 15: 3 cases (0.0%)
Chapter 7 — Liquidation (72.9%, 36,638 cases) Chapter 13 — Wage-earner plan (26.3%, 13,195 cases) Chapter 11 — Reorganization (0.5%, 242 cases) Chapter 12 — Family farmer / fisherman (0.2%, 113 cases) Chapter 9 — Municipality (0.1%, 37 cases) Chapter 15 — Cross-border / ancillary (0.0%, 3 cases)
ChapterPurposeCasesShare
Chapter 7Liquidation36,63872.94%
Chapter 13Wage-earner plan13,19526.27%
Chapter 11Reorganization2420.48%
Chapter 12Family farmer / fisherman1130.22%
Chapter 9Municipality370.07%
Chapter 15Cross-border / ancillary30.01%

Section 03Case Dispositions

Of cases filed in E.D. Okla. from FY 2005 onward, 27,780 have a terminal disposition recorded in the FJC Integrated Database (55.8% of 49,808 in-window cases). 22,028 remain unclassified — either still open at the last FJC extract or not yet coded.

Percentages reflect cases with a terminal disposition coded in the FJC Integrated Database. Blank dispositions (cases still open, or outcomes not yet coded at the last FJC extract) are counted separately in "unclassified" and excluded from the percentage denominator. This is typical of IDB coverage; see the methodology page for detail.
Discharged: 25,860 (93.1%)93.1%Dismissed: 896 (3.2%)Converted to another chapter: 859 (3.1%)Other disposition: 163 (0.6%)
Discharged (93.1%, 25,860 cases) Dismissed (3.2%, 896 cases) Converted to another chapter (3.1%, 859 cases) Other disposition (0.6%, 163 cases)
OutcomeCasesShare of classified
Discharged25,86093.09%
Dismissed8963.23%
Converted to another chapter8593.09%
Other disposition1630.59%

Section 04Prior-Filer Rate (Chapter 13)

Of Chapter 13 cases in E.D. Okla. with a coded prior-filing flag in the FJC IDB, 29.29% (3,444 cases) carry a recorded prior bankruptcy filing. This metric is relevant to 11 U.S.C. § 1328(f) discharge eligibility.

National rank on Chapter 13 prior-filer rate: 36th of 94 (63th percentile).

Classified subset: 11,758 of 13,195 Chapter 13 cases. How this is computed.

Section 05Pro Se Filing Rate

Of classified E.D. Okla. filings, 2.38% (1,164 cases) were filed without an attorney of record.

National rank on pro se rate: 59th of 94 (38th percentile).

Classified subset: 48,979 of 50,230 cases. How this is computed.

Section 06National Rank

How E.D. Okla. compares to the other 93 US federal bankruptcy districts on the metrics above. A higher percentile indicates a higher value of the metric (e.g., 95th percentile on total volume means top 5% by case count).

Total case volume
Rank 85 of 94 (11th percentile)
Chapter 13 volume
Rank 85 of 94 (11th percentile)
Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
Rank 36 of 94 (63th percentile)
Pro se rate
Rank 59 of 94 (38th percentile)

Section 07Peer Districts

Three districts in the Tenth Circuit closest in total case volume to E.D. Okla..

Section 08Sitting Judges

Judges listed on the official court website at https://www.okeb.uscourts.gov. Names and roles only; OBP does not publish qualitative characterizations of judges.

RoleName
Chief JudgeHonorable Paul

Section 09Courthouse & Divisions

Primary courthouse location as published on https://www.okeb.uscourts.gov.

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma
101 N. 5th Street, Room 403, Muskogee, OK 74401

Court website ↗

Section 10Privacy Rule (FRBP 9037) Context

Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9037 requires that Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, financial account numbers, and minor-child identifiers be redacted in bankruptcy filings. The Federal Judicial Center’s April 2024 empirical study, Unredacted Social Security Numbers in Federal Court PACER Documents, measured compliance across the federal court system.

National findings (Garri et al., 2024): In 37 randomly selected days of 2022 PACER filings, researchers identified 22,391 unredacted Social Security Numbers affecting approximately 8,300 individuals across 3,521 cases. 72% of identified SSNs appear noncompliant with the privacy rules. In proof-of-claim filings specifically, the noncompliance rate is 98%.

A small number of documents account for a disproportionate share of exposure: 45% of unredacted SSNs (10,042) appeared in just 17 documents, which the authors frame as evidence of systemic actors rather than widespread filer error. The study also documented 54 violations involving Bankruptcy Form 121 — the form the court tells debtors “will not make publicly available.”

The Federal Judicial Center’s findings are not broken out by district, and OBP does not publish per-district compliance rates. The FJC study measures appearance of noncompliance, not adjudicated Rule 9037 violations. See the methodology page for why that distinction matters.

Primary source: Unredacted Social Security Numbers in Federal Court PACER Documents (FJC, April 2024).

Section 11RECAP Coverage

Of the 50,230 cases recorded for E.D. Okla. in the FJC IDB, 0 dockets (0.0%) are available free of charge in the Free Law Project’s RECAP Archive. Every case link on this site resolves to a free CourtListener page — no PACER fee, no paywall, no login required.

If the coverage number is lower than you’d expect, you can help. Installing the free RECAP browser extension contributes any PACER documents you already pay for to the public archive, at no cost to you.

Section 12Frequently Asked Questions

How many federal bankruptcy cases have been filed in E.D. Okla.?

According to the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, 50,230 cases have been filed in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. E.D. Okla. ranks 85 of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total filing volume (11th percentile).

What is the chapter mix of bankruptcy filings in E.D. Okla.?

Of classified filings in E.D. Okla.: Chapter 13 accounts for 26.27% (13,195 cases), Chapter 7 for 72.94% (36,638 cases). The remaining filings consist of Chapter 11 reorganizations, Chapter 12 family farmer cases, and occasional cross-border proceedings.

What happens to bankruptcy cases in E.D. Okla.?

Of 27,780 cases with recorded outcomes (filed FY 2005 onward), 93.09% ended in discharge and 3.23% in dismissal. The remaining cases were converted to a different chapter or closed for other reasons. Cases still open at the last FJC extract are counted separately and excluded from these percentages.

What is the prior-filer rate on Chapter 13 cases in E.D. Okla.?

Of Chapter 13 cases in E.D. Okla. with prior-filing flags coded, 29.29% had a recorded prior bankruptcy filing. This metric is relevant to 11 U.S.C. § 1328(f) and refiling screening; see the methodology page for detail on how the flag is assigned.

What percentage of bankruptcy cases in E.D. Okla. are filed pro se?

Of E.D. Okla. filings with representation status coded, 2.38% were filed without an attorney of record.

How many E.D. Okla. cases are available in the free RECAP Archive?

CourtListener's RECAP Archive contains 0 dockets for E.D. Okla., representing 0.0% of FJC IDB-counted cases in this district. RECAP is operated by the Free Law Project; see free.law for attribution and how to contribute.