On the appearance docket he shall enter all actions in the order in which they are brought, the date of the summons, the time of the return thereof by the officer, and his return thereon, the time of filing the petition, and all subsequent pleadings and papers, and an abstract of all judgments and orders of the court. An abstract shall contain a very brief description of the order or judgment rendered. It must not be encumbered with a detailed recital of the terms. Proceedings other than those which culminated in an order or judgment shall not be abstracted into the appearance docket. Either the judge or the clerk may prepare an appearance docket entry in the form of a minute, or the content of the entry may be dictated either by the judge or the clerk into an electronic recording device. The clerk shall transcribe onto the appearance docket all minute entries made and all the electronically-recorded abstracts.
§ 23.Appearance Docket
Chapter 2: General Provisions · Last amended March 31, 1972 · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceSection 23 spells out what the district court clerk must record on the appearance docket for every case — from the summons and its return through a brief abstract of each judgment or order — and allows judges or clerks to dictate entries for later transcription.
Full Text of § 23
Amendment History
R.L. 1910, § 5323; Amended by Laws 1972, HB 1602, c. 119, § 1, emerg. eff. 3/31/1972.
Plain-English Summary
Section 23 lists everything that belongs on the appearance docket the clerk keeps under Section 22. For each case, the clerk logs the date the action was brought, the date of the summons, when the officer returned it and what the return said, when the petition and later pleadings and papers were filed, and a brief abstract of every judgment and order the court enters. The abstract has to stay short — a “very brief description,” the section says, not a detailed recital of terms — and proceedings that don’t end in an order or judgment don’t get abstracted at all.
The section also allows the entry to be built two ways: the judge or the clerk can write up a docket entry as a minute, or dictate the content into an electronic recording device. Either way, the clerk transcribes it onto the appearance docket.
Frequently Asked Questions
What has to appear on the Oklahoma appearance docket?
Section 23 requires an entry for each action in the order it was brought, including the summons date, the time and content of its return, the filing dates of the petition and later pleadings, and a brief abstract of every judgment or order.
How detailed does the abstract of a judgment need to be?
Not much. Section 23 calls for “a very brief description of the order or judgment rendered” and specifically says it must not be encumbered with a detailed recital of the terms.
Are all court proceedings recorded in the appearance docket?
No. Section 23 says only proceedings that end in an order or judgment get abstracted into the appearance docket; other proceedings are left out.
Can a judge dictate a docket entry instead of writing it out?
Yes. Section 23 lets a judge or the clerk dictate the content of a docket entry into an electronic recording device, and the clerk then transcribes it onto the appearance docket.
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 appearance docket requirementsdocket entry abstract of judgmentwhat goes on the appearance docketclerk minute entry recording