Oklahoma § 56-26.18 - Application for relief - Allowance of false claims Penalty

§ 56-26.18. Application for relief - Allowance of false claims Penalty

Every applicant for emergency relief or general assistance shall

make a written application, containing a written certification,

under penalty of perjury, alleging that all facts set out in such

application are true and correct. And said application shall be

forthwith acted upon, with dispatch and without delay.

Any person, whose duty it is to pass upon the eligibility of

persons to participate in any benefits provided in this act, who

shall knowingly, willfully or intentionally allow, or cause to be

allowed, any claim to any person known to be ineligible for such

relief, or, who aids, or abets, or persuades any person to sign an

application to obtain by means of a willfully false statement or

representation or other fraudulent device, assistance to which an

applicant is not entitled or assistance greater than that to which

an applicant is justly entitled shall be guilty of a Class D1 felony

offense, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned as provided

for in subsections B through F of Section 20N of Title 21 of the

Oklahoma Statutes, or be fined not less than One Hundred Dollars

($100.00) or more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or be both

so fined and imprisoned in the discretion of the court.

Added by Laws 1957, p. 455, § 6, emerg. eff. Jan. 22, 1957. Amended

by Laws 1984, c. 263, § 12, operative July 1, 1984; Laws 1997, c.

133, § 497, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 1999, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 5, § 362,

eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 2025, c. 486, § 524, eff. Jan. 1, 2026.

NOTE: Laws 1998, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 2, § 23 amended the effective

date of Laws 1997, c. 133, § 497 from July 1, 1998, to July 1, 1999.