Oklahoma City Municipal Improvement Authority v. HTB, Inc.

The court declares that personal actions1 by governmental entities subordinate to the state, who sue in a “sovereign capacity to protect vested public rights,” are unaffected by statutory limitations. I cannot accede to today’s departure from the general rule of the common-law which holds that, absent contrary legislation, only the state is protected from the effect of legislative time bars on personal actions. Moreover, in my view no city can ever sue in a “sovereign capacity” because it lacks that status.

Mindful of Oklahoma’s strong public policy disfavoring litigation of stale claims, I…