For state crimes, one court does both jobs. The District Court for Judicial District 22 handles every state misdemeanor and every felony filed here. The Oklahoma Constitution gives district courts power over all kinds of cases, and it promises at least one associate district judge in each county (Okla. Const. art. VII § 7, § 8).

City ordinance cases are the exception. The Municipal Court of the City of Ada calls itself "a Court Not of Record." It hears smaller city offenses and traffic tickets. If an Ada officer's case turns out to be a felony or a more serious misdemeanor, it moves to the District Court instead.

Not sure where a case landed? Staff in the Court Clerk's office, 580-332-5763, can run the name.

Most court offices line up along 13th Street and South Townsend in Ada. Each one below keeps weekday hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• District Court and Court Clerk, 100 W. 13th Street, Ada, OK 74820, 580-332-5763. Mail goes to P.O. Box 427, Ada, OK 74820. Besides criminal files, this office handles juvenile, probate, divorce, civil and small claims matters.
• Specialty courts office, 310 S. Townsend Street Annex 5, Ada, OK 74820, 580-332-9587, Monday to Friday.
• Ada Municipal Court, 301 S. Townsend Road, Ada, OK 74820, 580-436-8024, Monday to Friday.
• Chickasaw Nation District Court, Judicial Building, 821 N. Mississippi, Ada, OK 74820, 580-235-0281.

Any federal charge belongs to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Its clerk sits at 101 North 5th Street, Room 208, Muskogee, OK 74401, 918-684-7920.

Ada does. Its municipal court sits in the police building at 301 S. Townsend Road, Ada, OK 74820, 580-436-8024. Staff there issue, track and clear city warrants, and the court handles city tickets and minor charges. Mailed payments go to the Municipal Court Clerk, 231 S. Townsend Road, Ada, OK 74820.

The county's other incorporated towns are listed here:

• Allen (which also reaches into Hughes County)
• Byng
• Fitzhugh
• Francis
• Roff
• Stonewall

For a ticket or minor charge from one of those towns, call that town hall and ask whether it has a court. If the case is a state charge, the Court Clerk at 580-332-5763 will have it.

Expect it to move fast. The judge reads out the accusation, deals with bond and checks on a lawyer. Anyone without money for an attorney needs to speak up right then. If the accused sits in a different county's jail, SB 1711 (2024) allows the arraignment over video.

On a felony, the plea waits for a later date. On a misdemeanor, it may come right away. Hang on to every slip the bailiff or clerk hands over, since it shows the next setting.

For the date and courtroom, phone the Court Clerk at 580-332-5763.

Misdemeanors are the lower level of crime. Time behind bars on one of these is done locally, at the Justice Center. Common examples from Ada's bond list include public intoxication, petit larceny, assault and battery and driving on a suspended license.

• Some of these come from Ada officers and go to the city court. If the District Attorney files them, they go to District Court.
• Voters passed State Question 780, and as of July 1, 2017, simple possession of drugs became a misdemeanor in Oklahoma. Theft or damage under $1,000 did as well.
• A District Court jury in a misdemeanor case has six people.
• Many cases end in a plea deal, a fine, probation or a program.

Local programs can help. The specialty courts office runs Misdemeanor Treatment and Early Diversion, reachable at 580-332-9587. Ask the defense lawyer if the person might qualify.

Felonies can bring a prison term. In this county, a felony usually moves in this order:

1. Charges filed by the District 22 District Attorney.
2. Arraignment, where bond is set and the court appoints a lawyer if needed.
3. Preliminary hearing. It ends without any finding of guilt. The District 22 prosecutor must persuade the judge that the offense happened within Pontotoc's borders and that probable cause points to the accused.
4. District Court arraignment and plea talks.
5. Trial before 12 jurors, or a plea, then sentencing.

Oklahoma now grades felonies by letter for acts on or after January 1, 2026. Murder-level offenses rank in Y or A1, and the lowest rungs on the ladder are D2 and D3. The plan began with HB 1792, with fixes from HB 2104 and HB 2105. SB 325 (2024) gives the court two dates to check on a slow case, both measured from the day of the first appearance. A jailed defendant held on this case alone hits the mark at 9 months. Someone out on bond reaches it at 18 months.

Grave charges bring tougher treatment from bond through parole.

• Bail. After a hearing, a judge may refuse bond on a violent charge, a charge that can bring life, or some repeat and drug felonies (Okla. Const. art. II § 8).
• The 85% rule. Crimes on a set list must be served to 85% before parole is even weighed (21 O.S. § 13.1). The list holds murder in the first degree, child abuse, rape in the first degree and robbery in the first degree, among others.
• Life terms. Juries learn that a life term on an 85% crime is counted as 45 years, so parole can't come up for 38 years and 3 months.
• Federal court. Murder and other major crimes charged against a tribal member for acts in Indian country belong in federal court.

The law here changes often, so a lawyer should explain what applies to the exact charge.

Prosecution falls to District 22's elected District Attorney, whose district takes in Hughes and Seminole counties too. The local office is at 105 W. 13th Street, Ada, OK 74820, 580-332-0341, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 146, Ada, OK 74820.

Defense for a person who is broke comes through the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS), which pays private lawyers under contract to cover this county.

• Contract counsel: 215 N. Walnut Street, Pauls Valley, OK 73075, 405-238-4460
• Main office: 111 N. Peters Ave, Suite 500, Norman, OK 73069, 405-801-2601

Turn in the request for counsel at the clerk's window on 13th Street. A judge rules on it, and the $40 application fee may wait until the end. Calling OIDS won't get a lawyer named; the judge does that.

For court records, the county's website points to Oklahoma District Court Records (ODCR). Try it like this:

1. Open ODCR and pick Pontotoc from the county list.
2. Type the surname first and add a first name to narrow the results.
3. Click the case number for counts, rulings and upcoming settings.

The statewide Oklahoma State Courts Network (OSCN) is the other public court site, and the county links to it for its judges. Online records can lag behind. If a date looks wrong, the Court Clerk at 580-332-5763 has the final word. Ada city tickets are handled by phone at 580-436-8024.

The Sheriff's Office serves county warrants. Reach it at 117 W. 13th Street, Ada, OK 74820, 580-332-4169, and ask for warrants. Wanted lists: Oklahoma's Attorney General 10 Most Wanted; federal: U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted. A District 22 warrant also appears on the case file in ODCR. City warrants are handled by the municipal court, 580-436-8024.

With a defense attorney beside you, turn yourself in at whichever court issued the paper. Or phone the clerk on 13th Street to learn whether the warrant carries a bond or can be reset: 100 W. 13th Street, Ada, OK 74820, 580-332-5763.

Federal crimes in this county are tried in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Ada appears in federal law as one city where it can meet. Its clerk works from 101 North 5th Street, Room 208, Muskogee, OK 74401, 918-684-7920, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Federal prosecutors: U.S. Attorney's Office, 520 Denison Ave, Muskogee, OK 74401, 918-684-5100.
• Free defense: Federal Public Defender, 112 North 7th Street, Muskogee, OK 74401, 918-687-2430.
• A detention hearing under 18 U.S.C. 3142 decides release while the federal charge is pending.
• The U.S. Marshals, 101 North 5th Street, Suite 136, Muskogee, OK 74401, 539-239-5500, keep anyone held. They can tell you where.
• After a sentence, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

A state case and an immigration case run side by side, and one can affect the other. This is how a detainer works:

1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sends the Justice Center its Form I-247A.
2. The hold lasts up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Officers drive to Ada to collect the person. They report to ICE's Dallas Field Office, 8101 N. Stemmons Frwy, Dallas, TX 75247, 972-367-2200, which also runs a check-in office at 1220 Sovereign Row, Oklahoma City, OK 73108, 405-219-3199.
4. Oklahoma detainees are often housed at the Cimarron Correctional Facility, 3200 S. Kings Hwy., Cushing, OK 74023, 918-225-3336.
5. The ICE Online Detainee Locator shows where they are.

A plea deal may hurt a noncitizen's status. Talk with a lawyer before saying guilty. Oklahoma's own 2024 law against unlawful presence (HB 4156, 21 O.S. § 1795) is frozen by a federal judge, pending the state's appeal.

Once a judge imposes a prison term, the person becomes the responsibility of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC). A stretch at the Justice Center comes first, and DOC says six to nine months is typical.

• Then a DOC reception center, Lexington being one, grades custody level and assigns a prison.
• For crimes under the letter system, HB 2105 requires the judgment to name the class and the minimum time.
• Credit for Justice Center days is ordered in nearly every case.
• Use the DOC Offender Lookup after the transfer. Facility details: see our Oklahoma state prisons page, sorted by prison.
• DOC: 4345 N. Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, 405-425-2500.

A child's case is heard in juvenile court, a branch of the District Court, and its papers sit with the Court Clerk, 580-332-5763. Intake and supervision here belong to the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA).

• Detained kids stay in a youth detention center, apart from grown inmates.
• Teenagers from 15 up to 18 accused of something grave, armed robbery for one, may be filed on as youthful offenders. Failing their terms can land them in the adult system.
• Certification is the transfer of a youth's charge over to adult criminal court, decided under six factors set in state law.
• The county's Juvenile Drug Court is run through the specialty courts office, 580-332-9587.
• Local OJA office: 1628 E. Beverly, Suite 113, Ada, OK 74820, 580-436-4102.

If you were hurt by the crime, Marsy's Law, found at Okla. Const. art. II § 34, backs you in every District 22 courtroom. Victims are owed fairness and respect. They may be heard in court on release, any plea bargain and the sentence. Victims are also promised full restitution and a speedy finish.

• Notices start only after a victim writes to the District 22 office at 105 W. 13th Street, Ada, OK 74820, 580-332-0341. Your letter should carry the defendant's name, the case number, Pontotoc as the county, and your own phone and mailing address.
• OK VINE sends word of a transfer, escape or release. Enroll through VINELink or by calling 877-654-8463.
• Ask the Court Clerk, 580-332-5763, about a victim protective order. If the person you need protection from is in jail, SB 623 (2025) pushes service to the front of the line, tried within a day.
• The state's Crime Victims Compensation Program, 405-264-5006, can help pay for doctor bills, therapy, missed wages or a funeral.

Yes, in some cases. This county lies within the Chickasaw Nation's treaty territory, and the Nation's headquarters is in Ada. After McGirt v. Oklahoma (July 9, 2020), the state's top criminal court found the Chickasaw reservation still stands. A tribal member charged over something that happened on that land will most often face the Chickasaw court or a federal judge rather than the District Court. Since Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta (June 29, 2022), the District 22 prosecutor may also bring charges against a non-Indian for harming an Indian victim.

• Chickasaw Nation District Court: Judicial Building, 821 N. Mississippi, Ada, OK 74820, 580-235-0281.
• Lighthorse Police, Ada precinct: 1130 W. Main Street, Ada, OK 74820, 580-436-1166.

These rules keep shifting, and each case turns on who is accused and where. Ask a defense attorney which court fits the facts.

Yes. The county's specialty courts office lists these programs:

• Adult Drug Court
• High Intensity Supervision
• Misdemeanor Treatment
• Early Diversion
• Juvenile Drug Court
• Divorcing Well, a family program

The office is at 310 S. Townsend Street Annex 5, Ada, OK 74820, 580-332-9587, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. A defense lawyer usually asks the judge or the District Attorney about a referral.