Attorney General Ken Paxton helped secure a court order to protect Texas land after an Oklahoma property owner attempted to claim a portion of Texas’s Red River property by arguing that the Texas-Oklahoma border had shifted.
In August 2025, an Oklahoma property owner filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma state court seeking to “quiet title” and obtain a ruling declaring that the owner’s property included land belonging to Texans based on alleged changes to the lower bank of the Red River. The lawsuit improperly relied on a 1923 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that identified the Texas-Oklahoma border as the lower bank of the Red River. However, the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma was determined by the 1999 Red River Boundary Compact between Texas and Oklahoma, which was approved by Congress in 2000.
The lawsuit named several Texas landowners, including the State of Texas. Attorney General Paxton worked to defend Texas alongside the Texas Department of Transportation, which also utilized outside counsel to assist in filing out-of-state pleadings.
Attorney General Paxton assisted in moving to dismiss the case on sovereign immunity grounds, arguing that the Oklahoma property owner could not sue Texas in Oklahoma state court, or anywhere else, without Texas’s consent. Attorney General Paxton further argued that the Oklahoma property owner relied on the wrong authority for determining the boundary between the two states. The Motion to Dismiss was granted, and the State of Texas was removed from the lawsuit.
“The full force of the law will come crashing down on anyone trying to seize Texas land. I will always defend our state’s sovereignty and will not allow erroneous theories to undermine Texas’s land ownership,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The Red River Rivalry may be famous on the football field, but I won’t allow that term to extend to Oklahoma property owners unlawfully seizing Texas land in the courtroom.”
To read the order, click here.
Article source and photo credit: Texas Attorney General
