§ 11-21-103 — Cities or towns - Annexation procedure.

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 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 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 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. 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. 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 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.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 1977, c. 256, § 21-103, eff. July 1, 1978. Amended by Laws 1979, c. 44, § 5, emerg. eff. April 9, 1979; Laws 1990, c. 197, § 1, emerg. eff. May 10, 1990; Laws 2003, c. 236, § 1, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws 2004, c. 79, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2004; Laws 2004, c. 528, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2004; Laws 2005, c. 1, § 2, emerg. eff. March 15, 2005; Laws 2009, c. 146, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2009; Laws 2009, c. 224, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2009; Laws 2010, c. 2, § 2, emerg. eff. March 3, 2010; Laws 2011, c. 60, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2011; Laws 2014, c. 209, § 1, emerg. eff. April 30, 2014; Laws 2015, c. 124, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2015; Laws 2025, c. 481, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2025. NOTE: Laws 2004, c. 514, § 2 repealed by Laws 2005, c. 1, § 3, emerg. eff. March 15, 2005. Laws 2009, c. 197, § 1 repealed by Laws 2010, c. 2, § 3, emerg. eff. March 3, 2010.