Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims Assigned to the NW 6th Street Hearing Office
Social Security's Oklahoma City hearing office, at 301 NW 6th Street, is assigned claims from nine Oklahoma field offices, Ada, Ardmore, Chickasha, Clinton, Enid, Lawton, Moore, Oklahoma City and Shawnee, and from three in Texas: Amarillo, Pampa and Wichita Falls. Downard & Associates represents Oklahoma City-area claimants in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from the application through reconsideration, a hearing before an administrative law judge and Appeals Council review. We work by phone or video from our office in Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
How we help
What We Handle for Oklahoma City Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
Two Oklahoma City details can change how a claim is handled: which hearing office handles your claim, based on where you live, and the Oklahoma public pension rules that tie a disability retirement to Social Security, including the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System, which requires a Social Security or Railroad Retirement Board disability finding with a disability date within one year after your last day physically on the job.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review. Our Oklahoma disability lawyer page covers how claims across the state are routed and how SoonerCare fits into a claim.
We have no Oklahoma City office. Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video. We represent adults age 18 and older. We handle SSDI cases for people who receive VA benefits, but we do not handle VA claims or appeals. We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or cases about back pay alone, and we refer federal court appeals to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
The Oklahoma City Hearing Office and the Field Offices It Hears
Social Security's hearing office locator, which groups offices by hearings hub, shows one hearing office in the city:
- Oklahoma City, Suite 300, 301 NW 6th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73102: the Ada, Ardmore, Chickasha, Clinton, Enid, Lawton, Moore, Oklahoma City and Shawnee field offices in Oklahoma and the Amarillo, Pampa and Wichita Falls field offices in Texas.
The rest of Oklahoma splits three ways. The locator assigns the Bartlesville, Miami, Muskogee, Okmulgee, Stillwater and Tulsa field offices to the Tulsa hearing office, which our Tulsa disability lawyer page covers; the Poteau field office to the Fort Smith, Arkansas hearing office; and the Durant field office to the Dallas (North) hearing office. That puts Lawton, Ardmore and Enid with Oklahoma City, and Stillwater with Tulsa.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask, in a signed statement giving your reasons, to have a case transferred, and Social Security decides whether to do it. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance or increase productivity, only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. Social Security generally does not reassign a case this way when you have properly objected in writing to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence. After a move, it generally still honors that objection when deciding whether to reassign the case for workload reasons, if doing so causes no added delay and nothing else calls for scheduling you another way. That practice is separate from the hearing-format rule, under which Social Security decides how you appear after a move. When Social Security moves a case to another hearing office for workload or productivity reasons, the office that receives it notifies you and your representative. Our hearing office directory lists every office with its field offices. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
Public pensions and SSDI
When an Oklahoma Public Pension Depends on Your SSDI Decision
For state and local government workers in the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System, a disability retirement starts with Social Security. OPERS's disability retirement page lists four conditions: you qualify for disability payments from the Social Security Administration or the Railroad Retirement Board; the disability date Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board establishes is within one year after your last date physically on the job with an OPERS participating employer; the disability results from an injury or illness that occurred while you were physically on the job; and you have at least eight years of participating service, six of them full-time-equivalent. OPERS's plan summary, which describes the plan as of July 1, 2026, lists the same four conditions and says it is not a plan document.
The only proof of disability OPERS accepts is a legible copy of the complete Social Security award letter. OPERS asks you to send all pages of it to OPERS or your employer's retirement coordinator right away; OPERS then sends its Application for Disability Retirement Benefits (Form 515-127), your employer verifies your last day on the job and other details, and OPERS processes the completed application. OPERS says it pays no disability benefit for a month in which you received pay on your employer's regular payroll, not counting longevity pay, so payments begin only after your employment ends.
The one-year rule makes the disability date in a Social Security decision matter for OPERS as well as for your SSDI claim. OPERS measures the disability date Social Security establishes against your last day physically on the job, so an established onset date more than a year after that last day can fail OPERS's test even when SSDI is approved.
Public school employees in the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma follow a different rule. TRS's disability allowance page offers two routes, a finding by the TRS Medical Board or a Social Security disability award. Both require a disability that existed while you were employed in Oklahoma's public schools, at least 10 years of contributory Oklahoma service, not being eligible for regular, unreduced retirement, and a disability retirement application; on the Social Security route, you also send TRS documentation certifying your Social Security award.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From OU Health, INTEGRIS Health and the Oklahoma City VA
For most Oklahoma providers, 76 O.S. § 19 sets what they may charge for copies, which our Tulsa page explains; mental health and substance abuse records follow a separate statute.
OU Health hospitals and clinics in the Oklahoma City metro: its medical records page offers an online request portal and an Authorization to Release Information form, which you can fax, mail or deliver in person with a valid photo ID and a phone number. It says all hospital records requests are processed on the OU Health Center campus in the Oklahoma Children's Clinics Building, that the law gives it 30 days and its goal is about a week, and lists phone (572) 244-6220, fax (572) 244-9824, email OUMCROI@OUHealth.com, and 1200 Children's Ave., Suite B300, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, ATTN: Release of Information.
INTEGRIS Health: its release of medical records page takes requests through the Sharing Hub in its patient portal, or with the Patient Request for Health Information form, which can also direct copies to a third party. Forms go in person at a designated INTEGRIS Health location, by mail to INTEGRIS Health HIM Department, 3433 NW 56th Street, Building B, Suite C50, Oklahoma City, OK 73112, by secure email, or by fax to 405-552-8704 for patients and care providers or 405-552-8701 for all other requesters. ID is required, the page lists separate fees for patients and for third parties such as attorneys, and Health Information Management answers at 877-778-7211.
Oklahoma City VA: VA Oklahoma City health care's medical records office has a Release of Information office at 921 Northeast 13th Street, open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed on federal holidays, main phone 405-456-1000. Bring a signed written request, such as VA Form 10-5345a, and your Veteran Health Identification Card, or mail the form to 921 NE 13th St, Oklahoma City, OK 73104; you can also view and download VA records online. VA says mailed or faxed requests may take up to 20 business days to process. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim relate.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for an Oklahoma City Disability Claim
To object to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the notice
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
After a hearing request, Social Security sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing, and its ways to attend page lists four: in person or by agency video at one of its offices, and by phone or online video from a private location you choose. Under 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436, an objection to a phone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both must be made in writing within 30 days after you receive that notice. If you do not object, Social Security can schedule a phone or agency video hearing, though it can also schedule you in person or, if you agree, by online video; if you object to only one of those two formats, it can schedule you in person, by the other format, or by online video if you agree, and if you object to both, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, and a late objection or agreement needs good cause. If you move while the hearing request is pending, Social Security decides how you appear and can schedule a phone or agency video hearing despite an objection, though it considers the move only if you send evidence of your new residence; it can also use a phone hearing in a few other situations the rule lists. Our guide to hearing formats explains each choice and when Social Security moves a case to another office, and our disability hearings page describes the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive the initial denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and a hearing request after a reconsideration denial has its own 60 days under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date on the notice unless you show it came later, under 20 CFR 404.901 and 20 CFR 416.1401. A late request needs a written request for more time and good cause, so call us the week a denial arrives.
Common questions
Oklahoma City Disability Claim Questions
Is a Lawton or Enid claim assigned to the Oklahoma City hearing office?
Generally yes. Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the Lawton and Enid field offices, along with Ada, Ardmore, Chickasha, Clinton, Moore, Oklahoma City and Shawnee, to the Oklahoma City hearing office at 301 NW 6th Street. A transfer or reassignment is possible, and your Notice of Hearing names the place and format for your own case.
Why would a Wichita Falls or Amarillo claim be assigned to the Oklahoma City hearing office?
Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the Amarillo, Pampa and Wichita Falls field offices in Texas to the Oklahoma City hearing office. Hearing office jurisdiction follows where you live, and the locator shows which hearing office serves each field office.
Do I need an SSDI award to get OPERS disability retirement?
Yes, or a Railroad Retirement Board disability award. OPERS's first condition is that you qualify for disability payments from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board, and it lists a legible copy of the complete Social Security award letter as the only proof of disability it accepts. The disability date that agency establishes must also fall within one year after your last day physically on the job.
Can an Oklahoma teacher get a TRS disability allowance without SSDI?
Yes. TRS also offers a route through its own Medical Board, which must find you medically disabled and unable to perform your regular duties, with approval by the Board of Trustees. Either route requires at least 10 years of contributory Oklahoma service and not being eligible for regular, unreduced retirement.
Where do I send a records request for an OU Health hospital in Oklahoma City?
To Release of Information at 1200 Children's Ave., Suite B300, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, by fax to (572) 244-9824, or through OU Health's online request portal. OU Health asks for a valid photo ID and a phone number with the Authorization to Release Information form.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Oklahoma City Claim With Us
Have your latest Social Security notice, the field office named on your letters, any OPERS or TRS letters, and a list of where you have been treated in front of you. We will explain where the claim stands and the next deadline by phone or video.