(a) The right of a party to perfect an appeal from a judgment, order or decree of the trial court to the Supreme Court shall not be conditioned upon his having filed in the trial court a motion for a new trial, but in the event a motion for a new trial is filed in the trial court by a party adversely affected by the judgment, order or decree, no appeal to the Supreme Court may be taken until subsequent to the ruling by the trial court on the motion for a new trial. This provision shall not apply, however, to an appeal from an order of the Corporation Commission.
§ 991.Right to Perfect Appeal to Supreme Court Without Filing Motion For New Trial - Exemption
Chapter 15: Appeal and Error · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceSection 991 says the right to appeal to the Oklahoma Supreme Court doesn't depend on first filing a motion for new trial, but filing one blocks an appeal until it's ruled on, and a denied motion forfeits any error the movant could have raised in it but didn't.
Full Text of § 991
(b) If a motion for a new trial be filed and a new trial be denied, the movant may not, on the appeal, raise allegations of error that were available to him at the time of the filing of his motion for a new trial but were not therein asserted.
Amendment History
Laws 1968, SB 627, c. 395, § 1.
Plain-English Summary
Subsection (a) removes an old prerequisite: a party doesn't have to file a motion for a new trial in the trial court before appealing to the Supreme Court. But if that party — or any party adversely affected by the ruling — does file one, the appeal has to wait until the trial court rules on it. The rule doesn't apply to appeals from a Corporation Commission order.
Subsection (b) trades a benefit for a cost. File the motion and lose it, and the movant can't then raise on appeal any allegation of error that was available when the motion was filed but wasn't included in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to file a motion for a new trial before I can appeal in Oklahoma?
No, subsection (a) says the right to appeal doesn't depend on having filed one in the trial court.
What happens if I file a motion for new trial anyway?
The appeal can't be taken until the trial court rules on that motion.
If my motion for a new trial is denied, can I still raise every error on appeal?
Not necessarily — subsection (b) bars raising an allegation of error that was available when you filed the motion but wasn't asserted in it.
Does this section apply to Corporation Commission appeals?
No, subsection (a) expressly excludes appeals from an order of the Corporation Commission.
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: motion for new trial not required before appeal Oklahoma12 O.S. § 991waiver of error not raised in new trial motionCorporation Commission appeal exemption Oklahoma