In Re De-Annexation of Certain Real Property

2006 OK CIV APP 103, 143 P.3d 228
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedAugust 18, 2006
Docket102,668
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2006 OK CIV APP 103 (In Re De-Annexation of Certain Real Property) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re De-Annexation of Certain Real Property, 2006 OK CIV APP 103, 143 P.3d 228 (Okla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

143 P.3d 228 (2006)
2006 OK CIV APP 103

In re DE-ANNEXATION OF CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY FROM the CITY OF SEMINOLE.
Bedford T. Brewer and Larry Brewer, Plaintiffs/Appellants/Counter-Appellees,
v.
The City of Seminole, Defendant/Appellee/Counter-Appellant.

No. 102,668.

Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, Division No. 3.

August 18, 2006.

Jerry L. Colclazier, Colclazier & Associates, Seminole, OK, for Plaintiffs/Appellants/Counter-Appellees.

David W. Kirk, Lytle, Soul้ & Curlee, Oklahoma City, OK, for Defendant/Appellee/Counter-Appellant.

This Opinion has been Released for Publication by Order of the Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, Division No. 3.

*229 OPINION

ADAMS, Judge.

ถ 1 In the principal appeal, Plaintiffs Bedford and Larry Brewer contend a trial court order granting judgment to Defendant City of Seminole (City) on Plaintiffs' claim against City for multiple types of relief was error. Plaintiffs' claim is based on their contention that a tract of land owned by them, which was purportedly annexed by the Seminole City Council by Ordinance 587 in 1976, was not properly annexed and that Ordinance 587 was void. Plaintiffs contended the jurisdictional requirements applicable in 1976 under 11 O.S.1971 งง 481[1] and 482[2] were not met.

ถ 2 City moved for summary judgment, arguing that Plaintiffs could not challenge the ordinance in that regard because those facts were "conclusively presumed" under Oklahoma law. In addition, City argued Plaintiffs were prevented from challenging the validity of the ordinance by Bedford Brewer's action in entering a no contest plea in a previous criminal case involving an alleged violation of a Seminole City Ordinance which allegedly occurred on the property in question. Because we conclude the evidentiary material presented to the trial court reveals facts which are not consistent only with judgment for City, we reverse the judgment and remand the case for further proceedings.

ถ 3 City also appeals, contending the trial court erred in denying its Motion to Tax Attorneys' Fees and Costs. Our reversal of the judgment in City's favor removes any underlying basis for such an award to City, and we affirm the trial court's order denying that motion.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

ถ 4 In determining whether summary adjudication was appropriate, we must examine the pleadings, depositions, affidavits and other evidentiary materials submitted by the parties and affirm if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and City was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Perry v. Green, 1970 OK 70, 468 P.2d 483. All inferences and conclusions to be drawn from the evidentiary materials must be viewed in a light most favorable to Plaintiffs. Ross v. City of Shawnee, 1984 OK 43, 683 P.2d 535. We are limited to the issues actually presented below, as reflected by the record which was before the trial court rather than one that could have been assembled. Frey v. *230 Independence Fire and Casualty Company, 1985 OK 25, 698 P.2d 17.

BACKGROUND FACTS

ถ 5 According to Brewers, they own Lots 5-8, Block 4 of the Sinclair Industrial Addition to the City of Seminole. All parties agree that the Sinclair Industrial Addition was within the tract of land described in Ordinance 587. There is also no dispute that the streets shown in the plat for the Sinclair Industrial Addition have never been constructed.

THE VALIDITY OF THE ORDINANCE

ถ 6 The validity of Ordinance 587 is governed by 11 O.S.1971 ง 481 and/or ง 482. The ordinance addressed compliance with those requirements only in the following language:

WHEREAS, the following described tract of land as hereinafter described comes within and meets all the requirements of Title Eleven (11), Sections 481 and 482, Oklahoma Statutes Annotated, pertaining to the annexing of additional territory to cities of the first class, and
WHEREAS, all requirements as pertaining thereto have been met and complied with, and said tract of land to be annexed to the corporate limits of the City of Seminole being described as follows, to wit: [Description omitted.]

ถ 7 Plaintiffs' summary judgment motion argued that in order for the ordinance to be valid, City must have complied with the requirements of ง 481 and ง 482. However, they cited no authority to support the proposition that City's statutory authority to annex the property under either of these alternative statutes was waived by the recitation contained in the ordinance, and we have discovered none. We hold the ordinance is valid if City properly exercised its authority under either ง 481 or ง 482.

ถ 8 The trial court based its judgment on the conclusion that Plaintiffs could not collaterally attack the ordinance because it recited the jurisdictional facts which gave City statutory authority to annex the property in question. The rule applied by the trial court was succinctly stated in Jones v. City of Oklahoma City, 1952 OK 354, ถ 0, 250 P.2d 17, 18:

An ordinance annexing territory to a city which on its face recites the jurisdictional facts which give the city jurisdiction to annex the territory covered by the ordinance, may not be collaterally attacked by a private individual, but only by the state. Where the ordinance does not recite the jurisdictional facts an interested party other than the state may attack the validity of the ordinance and show, if he can, that the jurisdictional facts did not exist.

ถ 9 Sharp v. Oklahoma City, 1937 OK 685, 74 P.2d 383, was the principal case relied upon by City for its "conclusive presumption" argument, and it was apparently followed by the trial court. The ordinance involved recited that "the resident owners, of more than a majority of the whole number of acres included in such property particularly described in this ordinance, have given their written consent to the annexation of such property to the city of Oklahoma City," and the Court held that "[t]he recitation above quoted raises a conclusive presumption in this kind of a case that the city council took evidence as to the residence and ownership of land of each signer of the petition and the amount owned by each." Sharp, 1937 OK 685, ถถ 27, 30, 74 P.2d at 386. (Emphasis added.)

ถ 10 The recitation in Sharp, which specifically recited the facts which allowed the city to annex under the statute, is in sharp contrast with the conclusory recitation contained in the ordinance in question here. Ordinance 587 did not recite the jurisdictional facts, and Plaintiffs are not barred, by the rule articulated in Jones, from challenging the ordinance and proving that those facts under both ง 481 and ง 482 did not exist.[3]

ถ 11 Our holding that summary judgment was inappropriate for City based on this argument does not mean that Plaintiffs were *231 entitled to partial summary judgment on the validity of Ordinance 587, as they argued in the trial court. Under Jones, Plaintiffs had the burden of proving the relevant jurisdictional facts did not exist. Bedford Brewer's affidavit, wherein he stated that he had "checked the records and determined that. . . City did not have the written consent of the owners of a majority of the whole number of acres owned by residents of the territory to be added" and that he "checked the records and determined that . . .

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Related

In Re De-Annexation of Certain Real Property From City of Seminole
2009 OK 18 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2009)

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2006 OK CIV APP 103, 143 P.3d 228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-de-annexation-of-certain-real-property-oklacivapp-2006.