Governor Fallin has signed into law a measure that would protect the property rights of Oklahomans by restricting how small municipalities annex land.
House Bill 1456, by Rep. James Leewright, will modify municipality annexation procedures by requiring written consent of at least a majority of the property owners to be annexed. The bill also prohibits municipalities of less than 12,000 citizens from annexing more than eight square miles at one time.
Supporters of the measure included the Oklahoma Municipal League and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.
Leewright said the state should protect property owners who do not want to be annexed.
“I am very thankful for the governor for signing this important piece of legislation and for my colleagues in the House and Senate who helped me steer this bill through the process,” said Leewright, R-Bristow. “The bill was approved almost unanimously in both chambers, and that shows me that my colleagues believe in the foundational notion of private property rights, which our liberty is based upon. I promised my constituents that I would fight for them when I was sent here, and that is what I will continue to do.”
The bill passed out of the House by a vote of 85-4 and out of the Senate by a vote of 45-0. The law will take effect on November 1.
