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Rule 17.Motion For New Trial

Rules for District Courts of Oklahoma · Last amended November 1, 1984 · Last verified August 3, 2026

In one sentenceRequires every ground for a new trial to be stated with specificity in the motion, except evidentiary errors, and confines the movant at the hearing and on appeal to grounds covered by the motion as timely filed.

Full Text of Rule 17

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A motion for a new trial must contain every ground on which the moving party intends to rely in the trial court. Each error, including error in the giving or refusal to give specified instructions irregularity, abuse of discretion, misconduct, accident, surprise and other ground on which the moving party is relying to obtain a new trial, must be separately stated with specificity except that errors in the admission and exclusion of evidence may be asserted under the statement of errors in the admission and exclusion of evidence without such errors being separately stated. Where the moving party is relying on the Fourth or Fifth ground of Section 651 of Title 12, he must indicate whether the damages are excessive or inadequate or are too large or too small.
At the hearing on the motion or on appeal the movant may not rely on errors which are not fairly embraced in the specific grounds stated in the timely-filed motion for new trial. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company v. Travis, 1984 OK 33, 682 P.2d 225; Federal Corporation v. Independent School District No. 13, 1978 OK CIV APP 55, 606 P.2d 1141. Lack of specificity in any ground of a timely-filed new-trial motion will be regarded as effectively cured where the record shows that, at the hearing on that motion, without any objection by the opposite party the movant precisely identified each error or point of law which is fairly comprised in the defective general ground or grounds of the motion. Horizons, Inc. v. Keo Leasing Company, 1984 OK 24, 681 P.2d 757; Huff v. Huff, 1984 OK 51, 687 P.2d 130.
A motion seeking reconsideration, re-examination, rehearing or vacation of a judgment or final order, which is filed within 10 days of the day such decision was rendered, may be regarded as a new trial motion. Horizons, Inc. v. Keo Leasing Company, 1984 OK 24, 681 P.2d 757. After expiration of the statutory time for filing a motion for new trial, a timely-filed motion may be amended to clarify the grounds originally set out but not to set up new and independent grounds. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company v. Travis, 1984 OK 33, 682 P.2d 225. A motion, however styled, which is filed after the expiration of ten days following the decision is ineffective as a motion for new trial and will not extend appeal time. 12 O.S. § 653. Sellers v. Oklahoma Publishing Co., 1984 OK 11, 687 P.2d 116 [1984]; Minnesota Mining & Mfg. Co. v. Smith, 1978 OK 99, 581 P.2d 31. It is not necessary for the moving party to except to the rulings of the court either before, during, or after the trial, but he must have made known to the court the action which the court should take or the party's ground for objecting to the action of the court. See 12 O.S. § 631.
End

Amendment History

Withdrawn and replaced by order of Oct. 30, 1984, eff. 11/1/1984.

Plain-English Summary

Rule 17 requires a motion for new trial to state every ground the movant intends to rely on separately — jury-instruction errors, irregularity, abuse of discretion, misconduct, accident, surprise, and whether the trial court erred in assessing the amount of damages — though errors in admitting or excluding evidence may be grouped together without separate statement. At the hearing or on appeal, the movant is confined to errors covered by the specific grounds stated in the timely-filed motion. A vague ground can still be cured if, at the hearing, the movant precisely identifies the point of law it covers without objection from the other side.

A motion seeking reconsideration, rehearing, or vacation filed within 10 days of the decision may be treated as a new-trial motion, however it is styled, but one filed after that period cannot extend the time to appeal. A timely motion can later be amended to clarify grounds already raised, but not to add new, independent ones. No formal exception to a ruling is required, only that the party made known to the court what action it wanted taken. Oklahoma's 10-day filing window traces back to the same figure Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(b) used before a 2009 amendment stretched the federal deadline to 28 days; Rule 4 separately carves new-trial motions out of its own interlineation procedure and points back to this rule.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I raise a new argument for a new trial at the hearing that wasn't in my written motion?

Generally no. Rule 17 limits you at the hearing and on appeal to errors covered by the specific grounds stated in your timely-filed motion.

My motion's grounds were pretty general. Can I fix that at the hearing?

Possibly. Rule 17 lets a lack of specificity be cured if, at the hearing, without objection from the other side, you precisely identify the error covered by the general ground you already stated.

I filed a motion asking the judge to reconsider within 10 days of the decision but didn't call it a motion for new trial. Does it count?

It may. Rule 17 lets such a motion, however styled, filed within 10 days of the decision, be regarded as a new-trial motion.

Can I amend my new-trial motion after the 10-day deadline passes?

You can amend to clarify grounds you already raised, but Rule 17 does not let you add new and independent grounds after the statutory time for filing has expired.

Do I need to formally object to the judge's rulings during trial to preserve them for a new-trial motion?

No formal exception is required, but Rule 17 requires that you made known to the court the action you wanted it to take or your ground for objecting.

Source & verification. Rule text is reproduced verbatim from the Rules for District Courts of Oklahoma, promulgated by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma as an appendix to Chapter 2 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Last verified August 3, 2026. · Official source
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