In Oklahoma, all litigants are entitled to one appeal as a matter of right. Appeals to the Court of Criminal Appeals come directly from the District Court. All appeals in civil cases are made to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Appeal may be made to the Supreme Court from the District Court, Workers' Compensation Court, Court of Tax Review, and state agencies such as the Department of Public Safety, Oklahoma Tax Commission, Oklahoma Corporation Commission and the Department of Human Services. Many of these appeals are directed by the Supreme Court to one of four divisions of the Court of Civil Appeals. Most cases reviewed in the Supreme Court are from the Court of Civil Appeals. These cases come before the Supreme Court on petitions for certiorari.

Certiorari allows the Supreme Court to bring the record up from the Court of Civil Appeals and to review the Court of Civil Appeals' decision. A review of an opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals in the Supreme Court on writ of certiorari is a matter of sound judicial discretion, and will be granted only when there are special and important reasons, and if a majority of the Justices direct that certiorari be granted. Certiorari may be granted when: the Court of Civil Appeals has decided a question of substance not previously determined by the Oklahoma Supreme Court; or the decision of the Court of Civil Appeals does not conform with a decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court or the United States Supreme Court; or the Court of Civil Appeals divisions have issued conflicting opinions; or when the Court of Civil Appeals' decision is a substantial departure from the usual course of judicial proceedings.

When new first impression issues, or important issues of law, or matters of great public interest are at stake, the Supreme Court may retain a case directly from the trial court. In addition to appeals from a trial, issues come to the Supreme Court within its general superintending control over all inferior courts, agencies, commissions and boards created by law, with the exception of the Court on the Judiciary and the Senate sitting as a Court of Impeachment.