Let’s be clear about what counts as harassment in Oklahoma. You can’t just repeatedly bother someone because you feel like it. The law says it’s harassment when you deliberately and repeatedly do things that seriously upset, scare or disturb another person without any valid reason.
Think of it this way: If you call your ex-partner 50 times a day, that’s harassment. However, contacting a coworker about an urgent project is different—there’s a legitimate purpose there.
Some key ways people harass others (and get in trouble for it):
- Following someone around town, making them scared to go places
- Blowing up someone’s phone with threatening messages or disturbing content
- Using social media to spread private information or make threats
- Creating a hostile work environment with constant intimidation
For it to be criminal harassment, the law requires:
- You meant to do it
- You did it multiple times
- The person was genuinely distressed
- There was no legitimate reason for your actions
According to Oklahoma statutes, violations may constitute either misdemeanor or felony offenses, depending on circumstantial factors, including, but not limited to, severity, frequency, and contextual elements. Penalties may include monetary fines, incarceration, protective orders, and mandatory psychological evaluation and treatment.
Individuals experiencing harassment are strongly advised to maintain contemporaneous records of all incidents and seek immediate assistance from appropriate law enforcement agencies and/or legal counsel.
