A. Persons having claims against the plaintiff may be joined as defendants and required to interplead when their claims are such that the plaintiff is or may be exposed to double or multiple liability. It is not ground for objection to the joinder that the claims of the several claimants or the titles on which their claims depend do not have a common origin or are not identical but are adverse to and independent of one another, or that the plaintiff avers that he is not liable in whole or in part to any or all of the claimants. A defendant exposed to similar liability may obtain such interpleader by way of cross-claim or counterclaim. The provisions of this section supplement and do not in any way limit the joinder of parties permitted in Section 20 of this act.
§ 2022.Interpleader
Chapter 39: Oklahoma Pleading Code · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2022 lets a plaintiff join competing claimants as defendants and require them to interplead when their claims expose the plaintiff to double or multiple liability, even if the claims don't share a common origin, and authorizes the court to order the disputed property deposited with the court and the stakeholder discharged from further liability.
Full Text of § 2022
B. The provisions of this section shall be applicable to actions brought against a sheriff or other officer for the recovery of personal property taken by him under execution or for the proceeds of such property so taken and sold by him; and the defendant in any such action shall be entitled to the benefit of this section against the party in whose favor the execution issued.
C. The court may make an order for the safekeeping of the subject of the action or for its payment or delivery into the court or to such person as the court may direct, and the court may order the person who is seeking relief by way of interpleader to give a bond, payable to the clerk of the court, in such amount and with such surety as the court or judge may deem proper, conditioned upon the compliance with the future order or judgment of the court with respect to the subject matter of the controversy. Where the party seeking relief by way of interpleader claims no interest in the subject of the action and the subject of the action has been deposited with the court or with a person designated by the court, the court should discharge him from the action and from liability as to the claims of the other parties to the action with costs and, in the discretion of the court, a reasonable attorney fee.
D. In cases of interpleader, costs may be adjudged for or against any party, except as provided in subsection C of this section.
Amendment History
Added by Laws 1984, SB 417, c. 164, §22, eff. 11/1/1984.
Plain-English Summary
Interpleader solves a specific problem: someone holding money or property that two or more people claim, where paying the wrong claimant risks getting sued twice. This section lets that person join the rival claimants as defendants and force them to fight it out between themselves, and it doesn't matter that the claims have different origins, or are adverse and independent of each other, or that the plaintiff denies owing anything to some or all of them. A defendant facing the same kind of double-liability exposure can get the same relief through a cross-claim or counterclaim, and the section works alongside, not in place of, the general joinder rules in Section 2020.
The section also reaches a specific fact pattern: a sheriff or other officer sued over personal property seized and sold under execution can use interpleader against the party who obtained the execution. The court can order the disputed property or funds held safely, paid into court, or delivered to a person the court designates, and can require a bond from the party seeking interpleader relief. Once the stakeholder deposits the property and claims no interest in it, the court can discharge them from the case and from liability to the other claimants, along with costs and, at the court's discretion, a reasonable attorney fee. Costs in an interpleader case can otherwise be assessed for or against any party.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is interpleader for?
It lets someone holding property or money claimed by multiple people join those claimants as defendants and have the court decide between them, so the stakeholder isn't exposed to double or multiple liability, under subsection A.
Do the competing claims have to be related to use interpleader?
No -- subsection A specifically allows interpleader even when the claims don't have a common origin and are adverse to and independent of one another.
Can the person holding the disputed property get out of the lawsuit entirely?
Yes, under subsection C -- if they claim no interest in the property and deposit it with the court, the court can discharge them from the action and from liability, along with costs and, in its discretion, attorney fees.
Does a sheriff who seized property under execution get to use interpleader?
Yes -- subsection B extends the section to actions against a sheriff or other officer over property taken by execution, letting the officer interplead against the party who obtained the execution.
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 interpleader statute12 O.S. § 2022competing claims same property oklahomaoklahoma FRCP 22 equivalent