Pax­ton helps secure Texas land in legal Red River Rivalry

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has 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.

In August 2025, an Oklahoma property owner filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma state court arguing the Texas-Oklahoma border had shifted. The landowner sought 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.

Paxton argued 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. The AG's office defend Texas alongside the Texas Department of Transportation, which also utilized outside counsel to assist in filing out-of-state pleadings.

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. 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.