Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 11-21-103

A. Before the governing body of a city or town may annex any

territory adjacent or contiguous to the city or town, it must obtain

the written consent of the owners of at least a majority of the

acres to be annexed to the municipality and provide for notice and a

public hearing on the proposed annexation of the territory in the

manner provided in subsection B of this section. The annexation of

land by a connecting strip serving no municipal purpose other than

to establish statutory contiguity or adjacentness, or to capture

territory within the area to be annexed, constitutes an

impermissible exercise of state-delegated authority by a

municipality and shall be prohibited.

B. The governing body shall provide the notice and public

hearing required in subsection A of this section in the following

manner:

1. The governing body of the municipality shall direct that

notice of the proposed annexation of the territory be published in a

legally qualified newspaper of general circulation in the territory

and shall describe the boundaries of the territory proposed to be

annexed by reference to a map, geographical locations, legal or

physical description or other reasonable designation. The notice

shall state the date, time, and place the governing body shall

conduct a public hearing on the question of annexing the territory.

The notice shall be published in a legal newspaper of general

circulation in the territory sought to be annexed within fourteen

(14) days following the date the governing body directed the notice

to be published;

2. A copy of the notice of annexation shall be mailed by first-

class mail to all owners of property to be annexed as shown by the

current year's ownership rolls in the office of the county treasurer

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 11. Cities and Towns Page 135

and to all owners of property abutting any public right-of-way that

forms the boundary of the territory proposed to be annexed and to

the Sales and Use Tax Division of the Oklahoma Tax Commission;

provided that the notice of annexation shall be mailed by certified

mail to every person who owns a parcel of land of five (5) acres or

more used for agricultural purposes; and

3. The public hearing of such annexation shall be held no

earlier than fourteen (14) days nor more than thirty (30) days

following the publication and mailing of the notice.

C. Unless otherwise provided by law, a roadway or road right-

of–way that is adjacent or contiguous to the territory to be annexed

shall be considered a part and parcel to the territory to be

annexed.

D. 1. Before any territory is annexed to a municipality, and

prior to the publication of notice pursuant to subsection B of this

section, the municipality shall prepare a plan to extend municipal

services including, but not limited to, water, sewer, fire

protection, law enforcement and the cost of such services

appropriate to the proposed annexed territory. The plan shall be

included in the notices published and mailed pursuant to subsection

B of this section. The plan shall provide that the municipality

complete the implementation of the plan in accordance with any

existing capital improvement plan applicable to the portion of the

municipality adjacent to the territory proposed to be annexed. If

no such capital improvement plan has been adopted, the municipality

shall complete the service plan within one hundred twenty (120)

months from the date of annexation unless a different time is

determined by consensus between property owners and the municipality

at the hearing. The time for completion of the service plan shall

be set forth in the ordinance annexing the territory. If

municipality services are not substantially complete within the

prescribed time, then the affected owners may either directly

petition a court of competent jurisdiction for enforcement of

completion of the planned services or may bring a process for
and the municipality

at the hearing. The time for completion of the service plan shall

be set forth in the ordinance annexing the territory. If

municipality services are not substantially complete within the

prescribed time, then the affected owners may either directly

petition a court of competent jurisdiction for enforcement of

completion of the planned services or may bring a process for

detachment as provided in Section 21-110 of this title. For

purposes of this subsection, services may be provided by any method

or means available to the municipality to extend municipal services

to any other area of the city or town.

2. If the municipality fails to detach pursuant to Section 21-

110 of this title, then the majority of the annexed territory's

registered voters may file a petition with the municipality to

detach the territory. The petition shall include a legal

description of the area to be detached, contain a plat or similar

depiction of the area and detail the reason for detachment. The

territory petitioned to be detached shall not be platted as a

subdivision of the municipality to which it is seeking to be

detached, shall have at least one border not within the municipality

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 11. Cities and Towns Page 136

limits to which the property is seeking to be detached, and shall

plead the allegations of failure of the municipality to

substantially complete the services set forth in the annexation.

Such petition shall be filed with the municipal clerk. If the

municipality fails or refuses to detach the area within ninety (90)

days of receipt of the petition, any of the petitioners may bring a

cause of action in district court to request detachment. The

district court shall enter an order detaching the property if the

court finds a valid petition was filed with the municipality and the

municipality failed to perform its obligations in accordance with

the service plan.

E. Subject to the requirements of subsections A and B of this

section, if the municipality fails to reach the thresholds of

consent of owners, a municipality may annex a territory which is

bordered by at least fifty percent (50%) by property within

municipal limits without such consent in the limited circumstance

where the governing board proves beyond a preponderance of the

evidence that the annexation will provide more benefit to all owners

than being excluded. Owners can refute more benefit by showing

lower current utility rates, trash rates, or sanitation rates than

rates offered by the municipality. For emergency services, owners

can show response time comparisons and costs of service. Any

determination of less benefit shall result in a judgment for the

owners. The board shall also show that all municipal services

offered to all other municipal residents will be provided to the

territory within one hundred twenty (120) months from the date of

annexation, unless otherwise prohibited by law. To prove such

benefit, the municipality shall petition a court of competent

jurisdiction and provide service to every person entitled to notice

under subsection A of this section. Owners in the territory shall

be permitted no less than thirty (30) days from the date of service

to present a defense. No municipality may bring a forced annexation

under this subsection more often than once per year.

F. In any situation where the territory to be annexed by any

city or town includes land owned by a state beneficiary public trust

or that was previously owned and conveyed by a state beneficiary

public trust, annexation shall require the written consent of all of

said trust and transferees of said trust.

G. The prevailing property owner in an annexation dispute shall

be entitled to court costs and reasonable attorney fees, including,

but not limited to, when a municipality withdraws, revokes or

otherwise reverses the ordinance at issue in response to litigation

before issuance of a final judgment.
nnexation shall require the written consent of all of

said trust and transferees of said trust.

G. The prevailing property owner in an annexation dispute shall

be entitled to court costs and reasonable attorney fees, including,

but not limited to, when a municipality withdraws, revokes or

otherwise reverses the ordinance at issue in response to litigation

before issuance of a final judgment.

H. A municipality shall not attach ad valorem taxes to an

annexed area for a sinking fund to satisfy any judgment as provided

by law if the annexed area was not part of the municipality at the

time of the judgment.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 11. Cities and Towns Page 137

I. As used in this section:

1. "Airport" means any facility owned by any legal entity or by

a county, a municipality or a public trust having at least one

county or municipality as its beneficiary which is used primarily

for the purpose of providing air transportation of persons or goods

or both by aircraft powered through the use of propellers,

turboprops, jets or similar propulsion systems;

2. "Military installation" means those facilities constituting

the active or formerly active bases owned by the Department of

Defense or other applicable entity of the United States government

or by any entity of local government after transfer of title to such

installation; and

3. "Spaceport" means any area as defined pursuant to Section

5202 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

J. Except for ordinances enacted pursuant to Section 43-101.1

of this title, parcels of land five (5) acres or more used for

agricultural purposes annexed into the municipal limits on or after

July 1, 2003, or parcels of land forty (40) acres or more used for

agricultural purposes prior to annexation and have continued in

uninterrupted agriculture use annexed into the municipal limits

shall be exempt from ordinances restricting land use and building

construction to the extent such land use or construction is related

to agricultural purposes. Where there is no residence within fifty

(50) feet of the boundaries of such a parcel of land, the property

shall not be subject to ordinances regulating conduct that would not

be an offense under state law; provided, that any such property that

discharges into the municipal water, wastewater, or sewer system

shall be subject to any ordinances or regulations related to

compliance with environmental standards for that system.

K. Parcels of land situated within an area that is or may be

subject to any form of land use or other regulatory control as a

result of proximity to an airport, spaceport or military

installation shall not be exempt from municipal ordinances or other

laws regulating property for the purpose of operations necessary for

the use of an airport, spaceport or military installation and such

parcels of land shall be subject to all ordinances enacted pursuant

to Section 43-101.1 of this title.

L. If territory is annexed pursuant to this section, the

annexing governing body shall provide notice by first-class mail

together with a map and plat of the annexed territory to the Sales

and Use Tax Division of the Oklahoma Tax Commission prior to the

effective date of such annexation. The Tax Commission shall notify

the known sales tax vendors within the boundaries of the annexed

territory as provided by Section 119 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma

Statutes.

M. No municipality may annex more than the greater of ten

percent (10%) of its current land area or eight (8) square miles in

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 11. Cities and Towns Page 138

one area at any one time unless the municipality obtains the written

consent of the owners of at least sixty-five percent (65%) of the

acres to be annexed and twenty-five percent (25%) of the population

to be annexed.