Where the action is rightly brought in any county, a summons shall be issued to any other county against any one or more of the defendants, at the plaintiff's request.
§ 154.Summons May Issue to Other County
Chapter 6: Commencement of Actions · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceSection 154 lets a plaintiff who has rightly filed suit in one Oklahoma county request that summons issue to any other county to reach one or more of the defendants located there.
Full Text of § 154
Amendment History
R.L. 1910, § 4706.
Plain-English Summary
Once a lawsuit is filed in the right county, Oklahoma doesn't confine service to that county's borders. Section 154 lets the plaintiff ask the court to send summons to any other county where a defendant can be found, keeping venue tied to where the action was rightly brought while letting service follow the defendants wherever they live.
The mechanism matters most in multi-defendant cases, where codefendants often live in different counties. A statewide-licensed private process server under Section 158.1 can carry out that out-of-county service, and Section 181 addresses the parallel problem of recording a judgment affecting property in a county other than where the case was decided.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a lawsuit filed in one Oklahoma county reach a defendant who lives in a different county?
Yes. As long as the action was rightly brought in the filing county, Section 154 lets summons issue to any other county, including one where a codefendant resides.
Who decides whether summons goes out to another county?
The plaintiff does — the statute makes issuance to another county available at the plaintiff's request, not something requiring a separate court order.
Does this apply only when there are multiple defendants?
No. The text covers summons issued against "any one or more" of the defendants, so it applies to a single defendant located elsewhere as well as several defendants spread across counties.
What if the case wasn't rightly brought in the original county?
Section 154 only applies where the action is rightly brought in the filing county; a venue problem is a separate question from where summons may be sent.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes, enacted by the Oklahoma Legislature.
Last verified August 3, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: out of county summons oklahomaserve defendant in different county oklahomasummons to another countymulti county service of process oklahoma