Oklahoma Statutes

Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 1201 (2026)

Open section lines as public highways - Reserved section

✓ current as of July 2026

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lines - Prohibition. A. All section lines in the state which are opened and maintained by the board of county commissioners or the Department of Transportation for public use are hereby declared public highways. All section lines that are not so opened and maintained for public use may, by resolution of board, on the petition of the owner or all the owners of the abutting land, after public notice and at the expense of petitioner, be designated "reserved section lines" and are in the full and complete control of the owner or owners of the abutting land until such time as the board of county commissioners, by resolution, stating imminent intended use for public highway purposes, and by ninety-day written notice to the owner or owners of the abutting land, revoke said "reserved section lines" status. Provided, however, that no section line may be placed in reserve status unless the full width of such section line is so treated and no fee owner shall be denied the right of ingress and egress to his land by virtue of this act. Whenever a section line is a boundary line between two counties, action by boards of county commissioners of both counties will be necessary to place a section line in "reserve status." B. Neither a board of county commissioners nor the Department of Transportation shall open a public highway, take any action to open a public highway, or incur any of the costs necessary to open, construct or maintain a public highway pursuant to subsection A of this section or pursuant to Section 601 et seq. of this title, upon a segment of section line located within a county which is not then already open and in use as a public highway or which is not then in reserve status as provided for in subsection A of this section, and where all of the following three circumstances exist, the Legislature hereby finding that through access by the public would

not be possible on the segment of section line even if a public highway were constructed thereon: 1. a. the land crossed by the segment of section line is located within the original boundaries of a facility previously owned and operated by the United States of America or a department or agency thereof which was subsequently conveyed by the United States of America or said department or agency thereof to a public trust having the State of Oklahoma or one or more units of county or city government as its beneficiary, or b. the land crossed by the segment of section line is located within the boundaries of property proposed for construction of a new or expanded business facility. The business shall make a minimum capital investment of Ten Million Dollars ($10,000,000.00) in the stated facility and hire twenty-five new employees whose salaries meet or exceed the average county wage where the project is located; 2. Any one or more of the owners of any portion of the land on both sides of the entire section line has failed to request or consent to the opening of a public highway on said segment of section line or any portion thereof; and 3. The segment of section line is blocked at one or both ends thereof by an impassable barrier, such as a river, one or more operating airport runways or taxiways, or security fencing, gates or barricades erected in connection therewith, or by an operating rail line which does not have a section line highway crossing. C. Nothing in this section shall deny a fee owner their right of ingress or egress to their land. Added by Laws 1968, c. 415, § 1201, operative July 1, 1968. Amended by Laws 1975, c. 80, § 1, emerg. eff. April 24, 1975; Laws 2008, c. 73, § 1, emerg. eff. April 22, 2008; Laws 2011, c. 125, § 1.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 11 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1977–2025 · leading case: Burkhart v. Jacob, 1999 OK 11 (Okla. 1999).

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Burkhart v. Jacob, 1999 OK 11 (Okla. 1999). · cites it 3× “Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 1201 (1991). 2 Roads which are not opened may be reserved for private control by an abutting landowner upon a petition to the Board and after public notice is given to all abutting landowners at the petitioner’s expense.”

Oldfield v. Donelson, 565 P.2d 37 (Okla. 1977). “” 69 O.S. § 1201 provides: “All section lines in the State are hereby declared public highways.”

Trs. of the Charles Page Fam. Care Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust v. Siegel, 38 P.3d 919 (Okla. Civ. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “The section line road had not been placed in "reserve" pursuant to 69 O.S.1991 § 1201. While it was not clear from the evidence how long the "four wheelers" had used the road, Trust had used it for 37 years.”

Goodwin v. Blake, 413 P.3d 894 (Okla. Civ. App. 2017). · cites it 5× “" The statute was recodified, with essentially the same provisions, in 1968 as 69 O.S. § 1201. It is currently located within the "right of way" provisions of the state's county road improvement statutes.”

Donathan v. Wageman, 955 P.2d 759 (Okla. Civ. App. 1998). · cites it 2× “The Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s denial of the injunction based on 69 O.S.1981 § 1201. 2 That statute provides: All section lines in the state which are open and maintained by the Board of County Commissioners or the Department of Public Highways for public use are…”

Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners v. Creek Cnty. Rural Water Dist. No. 2, 888 P.2d 540 (Okla. Civ. App. 1994). “County calls our attention to 69 O.S.1991 § 1201. That section states: All section lines in the state which are opened and maintained by the board of county commissioners or the Department of Public Highways for public use are hereby declared public highways.”

Dobbs v. United States Forest Serv. (10th Cir. 2020). “” Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 1201 . They thus pertain to public highways along section lines dividing separate plots of land, and by contrast do not concern private roads running through national forests.”

Witherspoon v. Ince (W.D. Okla. 2024). “66, § 53 , and Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 1201 , the Paynes and Inces benefit from official actions of state judges, the court clerk, and the Garvin County Clerk to appropriate the Plaintiff’s farmland.”

Witherspoon v. Ince (10th Cir. 2025). “66, § 53 ; and Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 1201—sought “to take a twenty-foot road easement on the west side of the Witherspoon parcel by eminent domain for their private use.”

— Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 1201(A) — 1 case

Goodwin v. Blake, 413 P.3d 894 (Okla. Civ. App. 2017). “" The statute was recodified, with essentially the same provisions, in 1968 as 69 O.S. § 1201. It is currently located within the "right of way" provisions of the state's county road improvement statutes.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.