Barnett v. Okay Public Works Authority

Summary

The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that the Okay Public Works Authority possessed eminent-domain authority under 60 O.S. Supp. 2006, § 176(J), to install wastewater sewer lines as part of a public sanitary-system improvement project. The Court concluded that transporting, delivering, and treating wastewater falls within the statute’s authority concerning water for domestic purposes and that the project served a public use. The court vacated the Court of Civil Appeals’ opinion and affirmed the district court’s judgment awarding inverse-condemnation damages.

Holdings

1. Under 60 O.S. Supp. 2006, § 176(J), a public trust's eminent-domain authority to transport, deliver, treat, or furnish water for domestic purposes includes the authority to install wastewater sewer lines as part of a sanitary-system improvement project.
2. Installing wastewater sewer lines on the River Valley property as part of OPWA's sanitary-system improvement project was a public use because the project improved Okay's public utility system and served residents and other properties in the community.

Questions Presented

1. Whether OPWA possessed statutory eminent-domain power over the installation of wastewater sewer lines on Barnett's mobile-home-community property.
2. Whether the sanitary-system improvement project was for public use.

Disposition

vacated