Manslaughter in Oklahoma: First and Second Degree, Negligent Homicide

Oklahoma divides manslaughter into two degrees. Manslaughter in the first degree (21 O.S. 711) is a Class A2 felony punishable by at least four years in prison (21 O.S. 715), and a person convicted of it must serve 85 percent of the sentence before parole consideration; manslaughter in the second degree (21 O.S. 716) is a Class B5 felony punishable by 2 to 4 years in prison, up to one year in county jail, a fine up to $1,000, or both fine and imprisonment (21 O.S. 722). A death caused by driving in reckless disregard of the safety of others is the separate misdemeanor of negligent homicide (47 O.S. 11-903). For other states, see our guide to manslaughter laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-17. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Oklahoma's manslaughter statutes in Title 21 (21 O.S. 691 to 722), the 85 percent rule in 21 O.S. 13.1, the felony class lists in 21 O.S. 20A, 20D and 20J, the motor-vehicle provisions in Title 47 (47 O.S. 6-205, 10-102.1, 11-902, 11-903, 11-904 and 11-905) and the vessel negligent homicide offense in 63 O.S. 4210.1. It does not cover murder (see how long a life sentence lasts in Oklahoma and our overview of murder sentencing guidelines), whether a killing was justified (see Oklahoma self-defense laws), civil suits by a family (see Oklahoma wrongful death claims), or federal offenses, which the manslaughter hub covers.

What is manslaughter in Oklahoma?

Under 21 O.S. 691(A), "Homicide is the killing of one human being by another." Section 692 sorts every homicide into four categories: murder, manslaughter, excusable homicide and justifiable homicide. Manslaughter is the category between murder and a killing the law excuses or justifies, and Oklahoma divides it into two degrees:

• Manslaughter in the first degree (21 O.S. 711), in three listed cases, plus a separate form for an intoxicated physician (21 O.S. 712).
• Manslaughter in the second degree (21 O.S. 716), the residual category for a killing by "act, procurement or culpable negligence" that fits no other category, plus a separate form for the owner of a dangerous animal (21 O.S. 717).

Other death offenses sit outside Title 21, including negligent homicide (47 O.S. 11-903), a misdemeanor for a death caused by driving in reckless disregard of the safety of others, and a vessel offense of the same name (63 O.S. 4210.1).

Section 693 adds a proof rule for every manslaughter case: no person can be convicted of murder or manslaughter "unless the death of the person alleged to have been killed and the fact of the killing by the accused are each established as independent facts beyond a reasonable doubt."

Oklahoma's statutes do not use the terms voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. The heat-of-passion case in 21 O.S. 711(2) is the closest match to what other states call voluntary manslaughter. Our explainer on first, second and third degree manslaughter describes how other states use the degree labels.

Oklahoma manslaughter offenses at a glance

The class labels come from Oklahoma's felony classification system. Under 21 O.S. 20A(B), all felonies are classified, with "Class Y" reserved for first-degree murder. Section 20D(A)(4) places first-degree manslaughter in Class A2, and section 20J(A)(11)-(12) places second-degree manslaughter and the animal-owner offense in Class B5. Section 20D(B) provides that a person convicted of a Class A2 offense "shall be punished in accordance with the corresponding penalties provided for in the Oklahoma Statutes," so the prison terms still come from 21 O.S. 715 and 722. Our page on how Oklahoma sentences each felony class covers the class system beyond homicide.

Is manslaughter a felony in Oklahoma, and what is the sentence?

Both degrees of manslaughter are felonies. The vehicle offense of negligent homicide is a misdemeanor.

First degree. Section 715 provides: "Any person guilty of manslaughter in the first degree shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than four (4) years." That sentence sets a four-year minimum and states no maximum term. Section 715 sets no fine; under 21 O.S. 64(B), for a felony "in relation to which no fine is prescribed by law, the court or a jury may impose a fine on the offender not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) in addition to the imprisonment prescribed."

Second degree. Section 722 gives the court several options: "imprisonment in the State Penitentiary not more than four (4) years and not less than two (2) years, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine not exceeding One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both fine and imprisonment." A second-degree manslaughter conviction is a Class B5 felony even when the sentence is county jail or a fine.

The 85 percent rule for first-degree manslaughter

Under 21 O.S. 13.1, persons convicted of "Manslaughter in the first degree as provided for in Section 711 of this title" (and of an attempt, conspiracy or solicitation of it) "shall be required to serve not less than eighty-five percent (85%) of any sentence of imprisonment imposed by the judicial system prior to becoming eligible for consideration for parole." The same section bars "earned credits or any other type of credits which have the effect of reducing the length of the sentence to less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence imposed."

Second-degree manslaughter (21 O.S. 716) is not on the 13.1 list. The Legislature's compilation prints four versions of section 13.1, enacted in 2024 and 2025; the latest, Senate Bill 631 (Laws 2025, c. 352), passed over the Governor's veto and took effect November 1, 2025. Every version lists first-degree manslaughter under Section 711.

Heat of passion: Oklahoma's version of voluntary manslaughter

The second case of first-degree manslaughter in 21 O.S. 711 reads:

"2. When perpetrated without a design to effect death, and in a heat of passion, but in a cruel and unusual manner, or by means of a dangerous weapon; unless it is committed under such circumstances as constitute excusable or justifiable homicide;"

The text requires a killing without a design to effect death, in a heat of passion, and either in a cruel and unusual manner or by means of a dangerous weapon. A killing that is excusable or justifiable homicide falls outside it; whether a killing was justified is covered on our page on Oklahoma self-defense laws.

Section 731(2) marks the other boundary. A homicide is excusable "when committed by accident and misfortune in the heat of passion, upon any sudden and sufficient provocation, or upon a sudden combat provided that no undue advantage is taken, nor any dangerous weapon used, and that the killing is not done in a cruel or unusual manner."

Leading case: Brown v. State (1989)

In Brown v. State, 1989 OK CR 33, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals held "that the trial court erred in modifying Instruction No. 455 to omit the heat of passion element." It overruled two earlier decisions, Moody v. State (1927) and Smith v. State (1982), "to the extent they conflict with our holding." The court also wrote that under Section 711(2), "the heat of passion necessary to mitigate first degree murder to first degree manslaughter 'Must render the mind incapable of forming a design to effect death. . . .'"

Title 21, in the Legislature's compilation through December 31, 2025, contains no provision addressing whether a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity can supply the heat of passion, and section 711 contains no such text.

Misdemeanor-manslaughter and the other first-degree cases

The first and third cases in 21 O.S. 711 reach killings that other states often call involuntary manslaughter or treat separately:

• During a misdemeanor. Section 711(1) covers a homicide "perpetrated without a design to effect death by a person while engaged in the commission of a misdemeanor." A death caused without a design to effect death during an offense that is only a misdemeanor can therefore be first-degree manslaughter, a Class A2 felony.
• Unnecessary killing while resisting a crime. Section 711(3) covers a homicide "perpetrated unnecessarily either while resisting an attempt by the person killed to commit a crime, or after such attempt shall have failed."
• Intoxicated physician. Under 21 O.S. 712, every physician who, "being in a state of intoxication without a design to effect death, administers any poison, drug or medicine, or does any other act as such physician to another person, which produces the death of such other person, is guilty of manslaughter in the first degree, a Class A2 felony offense."

Second-degree manslaughter: culpable negligence

Section 716 is Oklahoma's residual manslaughter offense:

"Every killing of one human being by the act, procurement or culpable negligence of another, which, under the provisions of this chapter, is not murder, nor manslaughter in the first degree, nor excusable nor justifiable homicide, is manslaughter in the second degree, a Class B5 felony offense."

The statute uses the term "culpable negligence" and does not define it in section 716. The traffic statute on negligent homicide (47 O.S. 11-903) uses a different standard, "reckless disregard of the safety of others."

Section 717 makes the owner of a dangerous animal guilty of second-degree manslaughter when the owner, "knowing its propensities, wilfully suffers it to go at large, or keeps it without ordinary care," and the animal "kills any human being who has taken all the precautions which the circumstances permitted, to avoid such animal."

Vehicular manslaughter, DUI deaths and negligent homicide

Oklahoma has no statute named vehicular manslaughter, vehicular homicide or DUI manslaughter. Title 47's vehicle-specific death offenses include negligent homicide (11-903) and causing a fatal accident while driving without a valid license or with a license the driver knows or should have known is canceled, denied, suspended or revoked (11-905(C)). Otherwise it refers to the general homicide offenses in Title 21. A death that results from eluding an officer is graded as first-degree murder under 21 O.S. 701.7(B), described below.

Negligent homicide (47 O.S. 11-903)

Section 11-903(A) provides: "When the death of any person ensues within one (1) year as a proximate result of injury received by the driving of any vehicle by any person in reckless disregard of the safety of others, the person so operating such vehicle shall be guilty of negligent homicide."

Under section 11-903(B), negligent homicide is "a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year or by fine of not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment." The court must also order the person to attend a driver improvement or defensive driving course, and the fine is doubled if the person's Department of Public Safety records show a conviction for any traffic offense within the three years before the negligent homicide conviction (11-903(B)). Section 11-903(C) directs the Commissioner of Public Safety to "revoke the license or permit to drive and any nonresident operating privilege of any person convicted of negligent homicide."

Driving without a valid license (47 O.S. 11-905(C))

Section 11-905(C) applies to a person who, "while operating a vehicle in this state without a valid driver license for the class of vehicle being operated, or while knowingly disqualified to operate a motor vehicle in this state, or while such person knows or should have known that his or her driver license is canceled, denied, suspended or revoked, causes an accident resulting in the death of any other person." It is a Class B4 felony punishable by up to five years in the custody of the Department of Corrections, a fine up to $5,000, or both. Section 11-905(D) provides that it "may be charged in addition to any other chargeable offense allowed by law."

Boating deaths (63 O.S. 4210.1)

Under 63 O.S. 4210.1(A), when a death ensues within one year as a proximate result of injury received by "the operating of a vessel by any person sixteen (16) years of age or older in reckless disregard of the safety of others," the operator is guilty of negligent homicide. The penalty is up to one year in county jail, a fine of $100 to $1,000, or both (4210.1(B)).

DUI deaths

The DUI statute refers to impaired-driving deaths prosecuted under the general homicide sections. A first DUI offense is a misdemeanor (47 O.S. 11-902(C)(1)), and 21 O.S. 711(1) makes a homicide perpetrated without a design to effect death while engaged in the commission of a misdemeanor first-degree manslaughter. Its repeat-offender provision, 47 O.S. 11-902(C)(5), applies to a person convicted of DUI "after a previous conviction of a violation of murder in the second degree or manslaughter in the first degree in which the death was caused as a result of driving under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicating substance." That later DUI is a Class A2 felony punishable by 5 to 20 years in the custody of the Department of Corrections and a fine of not more than $10,000.

Second-degree murder under 21 O.S. 701.8(1), a Class A1 felony, covers a homicide "perpetrated by an act imminently dangerous to another person and evincing a depraved mind, regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual." Murder is outside this page.

A DUI crash causing great bodily injury without a death is a separate Class B1 felony under 47 O.S. 11-904(B)(1), punishable by 4 to 20 years and a fine of not more than $5,000. For DUI penalties when no one is hurt, see Oklahoma DUI laws.

License revocation

Under 47 O.S. 6-205(A)(1), Service Oklahoma "shall immediately revoke the driving privilege" of a person, adult or juvenile, upon a final conviction of "Manslaughter or negligent homicide resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle." The first revocation lasts one year and "shall not be modified" (6-205(B)); it lasts three years if a prior revocation under the section began within the preceding five years (6-205(C)).

Failure to stop and render aid after a motor vehicle accident resulting in death or personal injury is also a ground for mandatory revocation (6-205(A)(4)). Leaving the scene of an accident resulting in a death is a separate Class B4 felony under 47 O.S. 10-102.1(B) for a driver "willfully, maliciously, or feloniously failing to stop to avoid detection or prosecution, or to comply with said requirements," punishable by 1 to 10 years in prison, a fine of $1,000 to $10,000, or both. Our page on Oklahoma hit-and-run laws covers the duty to stop.

Deaths of unborn children

Under 21 O.S. 691(B), "human being" in the homicide definition "includes an unborn child, as defined in Section 1-730 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes." Section 691(C) excludes acts that cause the death of an unborn child during a legal abortion to which the pregnant woman consented, and acts committed under the usual and customary standards of medical practice during diagnostic testing or therapeutic treatment. Section 691(D) provides that "under no circumstances shall the mother of the unborn child be prosecuted for causing the death of the unborn child unless the mother has committed a crime that caused the death of the unborn child."

Under 21 O.S. 723, an offense under Section 711 or 716 "does not require proof that the person engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant or that the offender intended to cause the death or bodily injury to the unborn child."

Drug deliveries and police pursuits

Oklahoma does not grade a death that results from unlawfully distributing or dispensing controlled dangerous substances, or from trafficking in illegal drugs, as manslaughter. Under 21 O.S. 701.7(B), a person commits murder in the first degree, regardless of malice, when a death results from the commission or attempted commission of listed offenses that include those drug offenses and eluding an officer. Murder sentencing is outside this page; see our overview of murder laws in the United States.

Recent changes to Oklahoma manslaughter law

• January 1, 2026: felony classes. Laws 2024, c. 366 added the felony classification sections (21 O.S. 20A, 20D, 20J), effective January 1, 2026. Laws 2025, c. 486 (House Bill 2104), effective the same date, added the Class A2 label to 21 O.S. 711 and 712 and the Class B5 label to 21 O.S. 716, 717 and 722. The first-degree penalty section, 21 O.S. 715, was last amended in 2006 and carries no class label.
• November 1, 2025: the 85 percent list. Senate Bill 631 (Laws 2025, c. 352), passed over the Governor's veto, is the latest of four versions of 21 O.S. 13.1 printed in the Legislature's compilation; every version lists first-degree manslaughter.
• Negligent homicide (47 O.S. 11-903) was last amended by Laws 2011, c. 299, effective November 1, 2011.

Federal law

Federal law defines voluntary and involuntary manslaughter separately in 18 U.S.C. 1112 and, within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, sets maximum prison terms of 15 years for voluntary and 8 years for involuntary manslaughter; the manslaughter hub covers the federal layer.

Related Oklahoma pages

• Manslaughter laws by state
• Oklahoma felony and misdemeanor classes
• Oklahoma DUI laws
• Oklahoma hit-and-run laws
• Oklahoma self-defense laws
• Murder, homicide and manslaughter: the differences

This article provides general legal information about Oklahoma law as of 2026-10-17. It is not legal advice. For a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Oklahoma.

Last updated: 2026-10-17.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is manslaughter a felony in Oklahoma?

Yes. First-degree manslaughter is a Class A2 felony (21 O.S. 711) and second-degree manslaughter is a Class B5 felony (21 O.S. 716). Negligent homicide by vehicle under 47 O.S. 11-903 is a misdemeanor.

How many years is first-degree manslaughter in Oklahoma?

Section 715 sets imprisonment of not less than four years and states no maximum. A person convicted must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole consideration (21 O.S. 13.1).

What is the sentence for second-degree manslaughter in Oklahoma?

Under 21 O.S. 722, 2 to 4 years in the penitentiary, or up to one year in county jail, or a fine up to $1,000, or both fine and imprisonment. It is a Class B5 felony.

Does Oklahoma have voluntary and involuntary manslaughter?

Not by those names. Oklahoma uses first and second degrees; the closest match to voluntary manslaughter is a heat-of-passion killing without a design to effect death, committed in a cruel and unusual manner or by means of a dangerous weapon (21 O.S. 711(2)).

Is there vehicular manslaughter or DUI manslaughter in Oklahoma?

Oklahoma has no statute by those names. Driving in reckless disregard of others' safety that causes a death within one year is misdemeanor negligent homicide (47 O.S. 11-903), and the DUI statute refers to prior convictions of second-degree murder or first-degree manslaughter in which the death was caused by driving under the influence (47 O.S. 11-902(C)(5)). Causing a fatal accident while driving without a valid license, or with a license the driver knows or should have known is canceled, denied, suspended or revoked, is a Class B4 felony (47 O.S. 11-905(C)).

Is a death during a misdemeanor manslaughter in Oklahoma?

A homicide perpetrated without a design to effect death by a person while engaged in the commission of a misdemeanor is first-degree manslaughter, a Class A2 felony (21 O.S. 711(1)).

Does a manslaughter conviction affect a driver's license in Oklahoma?

Yes, when it results from operating a motor vehicle. Service Oklahoma must revoke the driving privilege after a final conviction of manslaughter or negligent homicide resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle: one year for a first revocation, three years if a prior revocation began within the preceding five years (47 O.S. 6-205).