A. The Uniform Arbitration Act governs an agreement to arbitrate made on or after January 1, 2006.
§ 1854.Date of Applicability
Chapter 38B: Uniform Arbitration Act · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceFixes which arbitration agreements Oklahoma's Uniform Arbitration Act covers, applying automatically to agreements made on or after January 1, 2006, and, from that date forward, to agreements to arbitrate whenever made.
Full Text of § 1854
B. The Uniform Arbitration Act governs an agreement to arbitrate made before January 1, 2006, if all the parties to the agreement or to the arbitration proceeding so agree in a record.
C. Beginning January 1, 2006, the Uniform Arbitration Act governs an agreement to arbitrate whenever made.
Amendment History
Added by Laws 2005, SB 873, c. 364, §4, emerg. eff. 6/6/2005.
Plain-English Summary
Section 1854 marks the transition from Oklahoma's prior arbitration law to the Uniform Arbitration Act. Subsection A applies the Act automatically to any agreement to arbitrate made on or after January 1, 2006. Subsection B lets parties opt in early: an agreement made before that date is governed by the Act if all the parties to the agreement, or to the arbitration proceeding, agree in a record to have it apply.
Subsection C then broadens the reach of subsections A and B: beginning January 1, 2006, the Act governs an agreement to arbitrate "whenever made" -- language that, read on its own terms, extends the Act's coverage to arbitration agreements from before that date too, once the date arrives, not only to the agreements described in subsections A and B.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Uniform Arbitration Act apply to an arbitration agreement I signed before 2006?
Under subsection A the Act automatically covers agreements made on or after January 1, 2006. Subsections B and C also extend its reach to earlier agreements -- by party agreement under subsection B, and more broadly under subsection C once January 1, 2006 arrived.
Can parties choose to use the Act for an older arbitration agreement?
Yes. Subsection B lets the Act govern an agreement made before January 1, 2006, if all the parties to the agreement or to the arbitration proceeding agree in a record.
When did Oklahoma's Uniform Arbitration Act take effect?
The Act governs agreements to arbitrate made on or after January 1, 2006, under subsection A, and this section itself carried an earlier emergency effective date of June 6, 2005.
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: oklahoma arbitration act effective date12 O.S. § 1854arbitration agreement signed before 2006 oklahomadoes uniform arbitration act apply retroactively