Cleveland County Floodplain Board

Floodplain Development Permit (unincorporated Cleveland County)

In unincorporated Cleveland County, new development, substantial improvement of a structure, fill or excavation in a mapped special flood hazard area requires a floodplain development permit before work begins (82 O.S. § 1617(A)); under § 1603(1)(b) a county's floodplain jurisdiction is its unincorporated area. The county has adopted floodplain regulations, most recently on 17 July 2008, according to the county's 2026–2031 Hazard Mitigation Plan, which the Board of County Commissioners adopted on 20 January 2026; the Board's minutes of 11 February 2013 record a motion to keep the Cleveland County Floodplain Damage Prevention Regulations in place. Under the statute the permit comes from the Cleveland County Floodplain Board, or from its accredited floodplain administrator where the regulations authorize the administrator to issue permits (§ 1612(A)(2)). The Oklahoma Water Resources Board lists George Mauldin, the county Emergency Management Director, as the county's accredited floodplain administrator: (405) 366-0249. The county does not publish a permit fee. State law caps the fees a floodplain board may charge at $500 (§ 1604(A)(3)(d)), a ceiling rather than the fee, and sets a $25 filing fee for a variance petition (§ 1615(B)). Violating the regulations is a misdemeanor (§ 1617(B)). A business building, substantially improving or filling a site in a mapped flood hazard area needs the permit, and its contractor obtains it before work starts. Development inside Norman, Noble, Lexington, Slaughterville or another city or town is permitted by that municipality.