Tenth Circuit · Oklahoma

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma has processed 85,507 federal bankruptcy filings in the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, ranking 77th of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total case volume, with Chapter 7 accounting for 74.22% of classified filings.

Data updated . Methodology & sources.
85,507Total cases (FJC IDB)
2,803FY 2025 filings
25.34%Chapter 13 share
74.22%Chapter 7 share
30.21%Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
0.0%RECAP coverage

National rank: 77th of 94 by total case volume (19th percentile). See all rankings below.

Section 01Filing Volume

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

FY2010: 7,939 filingsFY2011: 6,779 filingsFY2012: 6,191 filingsFY2013: 5,341 filingsFY2014: 4,753 filingsFY2015: 4,198 filingsFY2016: 4,041 filingsFY2017: 4,191 filingsFY2018: 4,245 filingsFY2019: 4,383 filingsFY2020: 3,467 filingsFY2021: 2,387 filingsFY2022: 2,062 filingsFY2023: 2,264 filingsFY2024: 2,636 filingsFY2025: 2,803 filingsFY2026: 505 filings (incomplete — current FY)2010201220142016201820202022202420267,9390

Section 02Chapter Mix

Distribution of cases filed in N.D. Okla. by bankruptcy chapter. Computed over the 85,507 cases with a non-blank chapter code in the FJC IDB.

Chapter 7: 63,460 cases (74.2%)Ch 7 74.2%Chapter 13: 21,668 cases (25.3%)Ch 13 25.3%Chapter 11: 300 cases (0.3%)Chapter 12: 41 cases (0.1%)Chapter 9: 4 cases (0.0%)Chapter 15: 2 cases (0.0%)
Chapter 7 — Liquidation (74.2%, 63,460 cases) Chapter 13 — Wage-earner plan (25.3%, 21,668 cases) Chapter 11 — Reorganization (0.3%, 300 cases) Chapter 12 — Family farmer / fisherman (0.1%, 41 cases) Chapter 9 — Municipality (0.0%, 4 cases) Chapter 15 — Cross-border / ancillary (0.0%, 2 cases)
ChapterPurposeCasesShare
Chapter 7Liquidation63,46074.22%
Chapter 13Wage-earner plan21,66825.34%
Chapter 11Reorganization3000.35%
Chapter 12Family farmer / fisherman410.05%
Chapter 9Municipality40.0%
Chapter 15Cross-border / ancillary20.0%

Section 03Case Dispositions

Of cases filed in N.D. Okla. from FY 2005 onward, 49,614 have a terminal disposition recorded in the FJC Integrated Database (58.6% of 84,711 in-window cases). 35,097 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: 45,419 (91.5%)91.5%Dismissed: 2,749 (5.5%)Converted to another chapter: 1,275 (2.6%)Other disposition: 171 (0.3%)
Discharged (91.5%, 45,419 cases) Dismissed (5.5%, 2,749 cases) Converted to another chapter (2.6%, 1,275 cases) Other disposition (0.3%, 171 cases)
OutcomeCasesShare of classified
Discharged45,41991.54%
Dismissed2,7495.54%
Converted to another chapter1,2752.57%
Other disposition1710.34%

Section 04Prior-Filer Rate (Chapter 13)

Of Chapter 13 cases in N.D. Okla. with a coded prior-filing flag in the FJC IDB, 30.21% (5,941 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: 29th of 94 (70th percentile).

Classified subset: 19,664 of 21,668 Chapter 13 cases. How this is computed.

Section 05Pro Se Filing Rate

Of classified N.D. Okla. filings, 2.27% (1,900 cases) were filed without an attorney of record.

National rank on pro se rate: 65th of 94 (32th percentile).

Classified subset: 83,571 of 85,507 cases. How this is computed.

Section 06National Rank

How N.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 77 of 94 (19th percentile)
Chapter 13 volume
Rank 80 of 94 (16th percentile)
Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
Rank 29 of 94 (70th percentile)
Pro se rate
Rank 65 of 94 (32th percentile)

Section 07Peer Districts

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

Section 08Sitting Judges

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

RoleName
Chief JudgePaul R. Thomas

Section 09Courthouse & Divisions

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

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
224 S. Boulder Ave. Suite 105, Tulsa, OK 74103

Court website ↗

Section 10Local Rules & Filing Fees

Statutory federal filing fees are uniform across all US bankruptcy districts: $338 for Chapter 7, $313 for Chapter 13, $1,738 for Chapter 11, and $278 for Chapter 12 (current as of 2025). N.D. Okla. administers its local rules at the following location:

Section 11Privacy 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 12RECAP Coverage

Of the 85,507 cases recorded for N.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 13Frequently Asked Questions

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

According to the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, 85,507 cases have been filed in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. N.D. Okla. ranks 77 of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total filing volume (19th percentile).

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

Of classified filings in N.D. Okla.: Chapter 13 accounts for 25.34% (21,668 cases), Chapter 7 for 74.22% (63,460 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 N.D. Okla.?

Of 49,614 cases with recorded outcomes (filed FY 2005 onward), 91.54% ended in discharge and 5.54% 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 N.D. Okla.?

Of Chapter 13 cases in N.D. Okla. with prior-filing flags coded, 30.21% 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 N.D. Okla. are filed pro se?

Of N.D. Okla. filings with representation status coded, 2.27% were filed without an attorney of record.

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

CourtListener's RECAP Archive contains 0 dockets for N.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.