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End of Year Update: Legal Battles & Legislative Efforts
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The Pike Off OTA website got a big overhaul and upgrade. Check it out if you haven't visited in a while!
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Lawsuit Update with PikeOff OTA Attorney Robert Norman 12/19/2022
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***Weekly Update Videos and more are posted to our official Pike Off OTA YouTube channel! If you haven't already, PLEASE click the red "SUBSCRIBE" button under the video! Subscribing increases our rankings, so that people all across the country will see our videos. This is SO important! PLUS, you'll be the first to know when new videos are uploaded! ;-)
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Legal Recap
Open Meeting Violation Lawsuit (District Court)
We Won!!! In December, Oklahoma residents who accused the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) of hiding plans about a $15 Billion turnpike expansion got a big win when Judge Timothy Olsen found the OTA to be in willful violation of the Open Meeting Act. This means all actions taken at the January 25 and February 22 OTA meetings for the proposed ACCESS Oklahoma turnpikes are invalid.
For all the details on the Open Meeting Act Case, here is a link to court documents: No CV-2022-1905
Supreme Court Cases
The Supreme Court heard the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s application for the assumption of original jurisdiction and petition for bond validation Tuesday September 13th in the Oklahoma Supreme Court Hearing room at 2100 N. Lincoln, OKC. We had several lawyers and citizens speak to the Supreme Court Referee on our behalf. If you missed it, almost all the live-stream was captured here.
Citizen Protest speeches from this hearing are also available:
- Tom Elmore, Transportation Expert
- Amy Cerato, Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Professor
- Mike Reynolds, Former Republican Member of the House of Representatives
On October 11, 2022, the Supreme Court heard the arguments from the OTA on the Writ of Prohibition to try to get Judge Olsen removed from the PIKE OFF OTA District Case and the Open Meetings Act lawsuit. The OTA wanted the Supreme Court to assume original jurisdiction in the cases. The Supreme Court denied this Writ of Prohibition request and let both District Court Cases move forward. We ended up winning the Open Meetings Act Violation Lawsuit on all counts on December 1st!!!.
For all the details on the filings of the Writ of Prohibition action, here is a link to court documents: No PR-120683
On November 28, 2022 the State Supreme Court Justices themselves heard the second round of oral arguments from the OTA and the legal representatives of the protestants on the 2nd floor of the State Capitol. All of the oral arguments from both legal teams were live-streamed and can be watched on our PIKE OFF OTA Youtube channel.
The Supreme Court Justices came prepared with great questions for the OTA and we feel very good about our meritorious arguments. We expect a ruling sometime in late Winter (late January/February).
For the full details and court documents on the bond validation request at the Supreme Court, please check out this OSCN link: No. O-120619
PIKE OFF OTA Authorization Lawsuit (District Court)
The District Court Case that PIKE OFF OTA and concerned citizens are funding to stop the construction of the South Extension, and the Outer Loop: East-West Connector and Outer Loop: Tri-City Connector has three arguments; the first two were used at the Supreme Court to argue against the bond validation as well. The lawsuit argues that the plaintiffs are entitled to preliminary and permanent Injunctive and/or Mandamus Relief compelling the OTA to comply with and abide by any and all legal duties, obligations and due process rights as well as cease and desist in its plans, intentions and acts in furtherance of building turnpikes not authorized in the Oklahoma Turnpike Enabling Act because:
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The South Extension is not Authorized by Statute 69, Section 1705(e) because it is not listed as one of the 35 authorized locations in the Oklahoma Turnpike Enabling Act.
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The Outer Loop: East-West Connector and Outer Loop: Tri-City Connector is not Authorized by Statute 69, Section 1705(f) because it violates the one-bond issue and one bond indenture requirement.
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The OTA has failed to perform through and adequate economic, environmental, feasibility, geological, alternative route and resource conservation easement impact studies, as well as studies regarding impacts on citizens and their property.
While the Supreme Court denied the OTA’s Writ of Prohibition to allow these District Court cases to stay in District Court, on December 12, 2022, Judge Olson granted the OTA’s Motion to Dismiss based on exclusive original jurisdiction being conferred to the Supreme Court. His reasoning was that the first two arguments of the District Court Case were identical to what we argued in the Supreme Court during our protest of the OTA’s bond validation. His decision was based solely on jurisdiction and not on meritorious arguments, and therefore, PIKE OFF OTA will appeal this verdict in District Court and await the Supreme Court ruling.
Find court documents for this district court lawsuit at: CV-2022-1692
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Check out these words of wisdom and an update on what comes next for the Open Meeting Lawsuit from Attorney Stan Ward.
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Please consider making a monthly contribution or a one time donation to help us STOP the OTA. Every little bit helps. Even a small donation, if made by enough people, will make a huge impact.
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Making our Big Courtroom Wins PERMANENT with Legislative Change
We have triumphed in the Courtroom with meritorious legal arguments. While joyous, these legal wins only buy us time. To permanently stop the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, authentic modifications need to occur in Statute 69 Section 1701-1736—The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Enabling Act. Without changes to this statute the OTA will keep building wherever and whenever they want, without municipality or public input, without having to provide real notice or conduct sound impact and justification studies, all while utilizing the state’s sovereign powers of eminent domain. We must continue our incredible momentum and work diligently with our legislators to create real, protective change for the Oklahoma Citizens, ensuring our legal battles haven’t been in vain.
The 2023 Regular Session will start on February 6th 2023. PIKE OFF OTA and concerned citizens are working hard with the legislators to craft bills to add common sense requirements and citizen protections to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s enabling act. Such language changes include adding
- sunset laws
- annual and special audit requirements
- impact and justification study requirements prior to authorization
- municipality input
- citizen input
to Statute 69, Section 1705. Other proposed changes include requiring ACTUAL Notice, in addition to mailed notice, to homeowners in and around the area potentially impacted by a turnpike (Statute 69, Section 1718) prior to asking for bond validation at the State Supreme Court.
We are also proposing common sense protective changes to Oklahoma eminent domain laws (Statute 27) and proposing a 30-day timeline on all open record requests in Statute 51.
We are going to need citizen involvement next session, so please make sure PIKE OFF OTA has your email and your phone number for text alerts. We will need everyone to be contacting their legislators, and convincing friends in other areas of the state to contact THEIR legislators, in support of these bills.
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Preparing for the Upcoming Legislative Session
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What can you do right now?
Get ready to keep up with our proposed bills by signing up for the House and Senate Newsletters:
You can also track a specific bill through the process with LENS (Legislative Electronic Notification System):
Just sign up for a LENS account and then enter in the bill information to get immediate notification when a bill moves through the Legislative process stages. Pike Off OTA will send out specific bill details as that information becomes available.
Another great asset to have at your disposal is the Oklahoma Legislative Guide, which you can download to your phone as an app. In it, you can find out where your Senator and Representative are located in the Capitol, you can keep notes on meetings you might have, and you can take a roll call on votes from the floor. We encourage you to check it out prior to next session.
Oklahoma Legislative Guide (Apple)
Oklahoma Legislative Guide (Google Play)
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Was the Kickapoo Built Illegally?
The Kickapoo Turnpike was originally known as the Eastern Oklahoma County Turnpike announced in the 2015 Driving Forward Program. A 21 mile toll road connecting I44 near Luther to I40 near Newalla that opened in October of 2020, it was a hotly contested turnpike; for good reason. It was never authorized by the legislature. The Kickapoo was fast-tracked and built, destroying over 100 homes, displacing families and spoiling thousands of acres of farm and wetlands; all to carry barely 2000 vehicles per day. The court documents from the 2016 Oklahoma Supreme Court case when citizens tried to stop the destructive new alignment turnpike can be found here.
Self-Proclaimed Authorization Powers
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s (OTA) Comprehensive Annual Report (CAFR) for the calendar year ending December 31, 2021 includes some interesting language about how each of its turnpikes were authorized.
The fourth page of the report has a description of all the turnpikes comprising the Oklahoma turnpike system. The first sentence for each turnpike description begins….”Authorized by the State Legislature in [year]” which is cited for the Turner, Will Rogers, H.E. Bailey, Indian Nation, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Muskogee, Kilpatrick, Cimarron, and Creek Turnpikes.
However, the first sentence descriptor for the Kickapoo Turnpike begins…..”Authorized by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Board in 2015.” This is intriguing, especially since the Oklahoma Statutes, which are legal documents of the Authority, along with all financial documents state….”The Oklahoma State Legislature has the exclusive right to authorize turnpike routes.”
The Kickapoo authorization statement is not just an accidental oversight by the preparer, since the 2020 CAFR also has the same description of the Kickapoo, which was the first year for a narrative description of the turnpike.
So why would the Kickapoo not state that it was authorized by the State Legislature in 1987, since 69 O.S. § 1705(e)20 was the statute the OTA used to request validation of the bonds by the Supreme Court for construction of the Kickapoo?
If OTA truly believed that they had the authority to issue bonds for the Kickapoo based upon 69 O.S. §1705(e)20, they would have cited Legislative approval in 1987 for the Kickapoo, which would be consistent with the description of authorization of all the other turnpikes listed in the 2021 CAFR.
Did the OTA Board and staff knowingly and willfully build an unauthorized turnpike and subvert the law?
While the OTA may have had location authorization in the statute, they were specifically prohibited from building any more segments of the outer loop because of the turnpike bonding and building restrictions written in 69 O.S. § 1705(f). The Supreme Court, unfortunately, was never asked to rule on this specific part of the statute and allowed the OTA to break the law and sell revenue bonds to build the Kickapoo.
Language Limiting the Bonding and Building Authority
69 O.S. § 1705(f) states that “To issue turnpike revenue bonds of the Authority, payable solely from revenues, including the revenues accruing to the trust fund created by Sections 1701 through 1734 of this title, for the purpose of paying all or any part of the cost of any one or more turnpike projects. Provided that any bonds issued for the construction of the proposed turnpike referred to in subparagraphs (10), (20), (21) and (22) of paragraph (e) of this section shall be issued as one issue for all four of the proposed turnpikes and shall be financed, constructed and operated under one bond indenture.”
The second sentence of § 1705(f) strictly limits the OTA’s bonding and building authority in the case of the four turnpikes (part of the Chickasaw, part of the Cherokee, part of the Creek, and part of the Oklahoma City Outer Loop) enumerated in 69 O.S. § 1705(e).
The newspaper accounts of the time reinforced that the intent of the statute was to limit those four turnpikes to be built under one bond issue and indenture. A 1988 Oklahoman article stated that “[t]he 1987 Legislature approved building of four toll roads, including the Oklahoma City turnpike, but only if part or all of the four roads were built at the same time.”
With its one authorized bond issue in 1989, the OTA built parts of all four listed turnpikes and they never went back to the legislators to get additional authorization for more bonding to finish the Outer Loop, or any of the other three turnpikes. The Kickapoo Turnpike (and the proposed East-West and Tri-City Connectors) would be segments of the § 1705 (e)(20) Oklahoma City Outer Loop, and thus subject to the restrictions in § 1705(f).
Unauthorized and ILLEGAL Build
The OTA’s documentation shows, in plainly written language, that the Kickapoo Turnpike was authorized by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Board, NOT the Oklahoma State Legislature, which is openly unlawful. The Legislature “authorizes” turnpikes; not the OTA Board.
Obviously, the OTA decided in 2015 to fully untether itself from the legislature, and to answer only to itself, and they got away with it. That is why they are trying again with the proposed Tri-City Connector, East-West Connector and the Southern Extension. They have gone rogue and are no longer limiting their decisions to issue bonds based upon Legislative action, but will now take authority to build turnpikes whenever and wherever they wish to build turnpikes. It is imperative that the Supreme Court not only step in and enforce the Oklahoma Statutes, but that the legislator’s act swiftly in their constituents’ best interests and curb this unchecked power and willful disregard for the law.
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