Texas v. Oklahoma

Background

The States of Texas and Oklahoma jointly asked the Court to enter a judgment by consent to settle their border in Grayson County, Texas. The judgment describes the boundary as the South bank of the Red River as it existed before construction of the Texoma (Denison) Dam, running from about 1,973 feet west to about 6,103 feet east of the dam center line. The opinion recalls the 1819 treaty and earlier Supreme Court decisions that define the state line as the river’s south bank, and it notes a 1925 boundary commission report saying there were no sudden changes in the river’s position in Grayson County. The text also records 1939 Army Corps of Engineers surveys and later deeds and judgments for three tracts labeled T-2-1, T-2-2, and T-2-4.

Reasoning

The core question was whether the reservoir and dam changed the state boundary. The Court relied on the treaty, prior rulings defining the south bank, the 1925 commission report, the 1939 Corps surveys, and a 1980 reenactment survey the States commissioned. That reenactment found the Corps’ 1939 northern boundaries (coinciding with the south bank) were correct as they existed before the dam. Based on those facts and the parties’ agreement, the Court entered a consent judgment fixing the boundary along the described south bank and ruled the dam and reservoir did not alter the state line.

Real world impact

The judgment fixes the exact state line for the described stretch of the Red River and records a plat showing the "STATE LINE." It confirms that the boundaries of Tracts T-2-1, T-2-2, and T-2-4 match the state line, affecting land records and title clarity in Grayson County. The Court also ordered that the cost of the action be split equally between the two States.