An easement is a legal right for someone to use part of another person’s land for a limited, specific purpose. It doesn’t give ownership of the land—just the right to use it in a certain way. People have easements because they solve practical problems or allow necessary services. Here are some of the most common types of easements recognized under Oklahoma law, along with a few notes on how they function. If you want, I can pull up some specific examples relevant to your county.
Key Definitions & Distinctions in Oklahoma
Before listing types, it’s helpful to know these terms:
- Easement appurtenant: An easement appurtenant is a type of easement that benefits one piece of land (the “dominant estate”) and burdens another piece of land (the “servient estate”). It “runs with the land,” meaning it stays in place even when the properties are sold to new owners.
- Easement in gross: An easement in gross is an easement that benefits a specific person, company, or entity—not a piece of land. Unlike an easement appurtenant (which is tied to land and transfers with the property), an easement in gross is a personal or commercial right that exists independently of land ownership.
Common Types of Easements in Oklahoma
Here are some common types of easements you’ll most often see:
| Type | What it Is / When It Arises | Some Key Oklahoma Features |
|---|---|---|
| Express Easement | An express easement is an easement that is deliberately created in writing by agreement between property owners. It is the most common and straightforward way to establish easement rights. | Its required that the express easement is supported by a writing. The writing must contain specific terms that make the intent to create the easement. |
| Easement by Necessity | An easement by necessity is a type of easement that arises when a piece of land would be useless or inaccessible without crossing another property. Oklahoma courts recognize this as a way to prevent land from being landlocked. | Oklahoma statutes and cases recognize use of section lines and other routes necessary for ingress/egress. |
| Easement by Implication (Pre‐existing Use) | An easement by implication (sometimes called an easement implied from prior use) arises when a property is divided, and a use that was already in place before the division is so obvious, continuous, and reasonably necessary that the law assumes the parties intended it to continue, even though they didn’t put it in writing. | |
| Prescriptive Easement | A prescriptive easement in Oklahoma arises after 15 years of open, continuous, and hostile use of another’s property without permission, giving the user a legal right to continue that use. | |
| Utility Easement | A utility easement arises when a property owner (or sometimes the government) grants a utility provider the legal right to install, maintain, and access infrastructure like power lines, water pipes, gas lines, sewer systems, or telecommunication cables on private land. In Oklahoma, these are among the most common easements—often created before land is ever sold to a homeowner. | |
| Access / Right‐of‐Way Easement | An Access Easement (also called a Right-of-Way Easement) is a legal right that allows someone to travel across another person’s land to reach their own property, a public road, or another destination. It doesn’t give ownership of the land—only the right to pass through for the specific access purpose. | |
| Drainage Easement | A drainage easement is a legal right that allows water—such as stormwater, surface runoff, or flood control flows—to pass over or through someone’s property. It ensures that natural or engineered drainage systems can function without obstruction. | |
| Conservation / Agricultural Easements | A Conservation or Agricultural Easement arises when a landowner voluntarily agrees to place permanent or long-term restrictions on how their land can be used, usually to preserve farmland, open space, wildlife habitat, or natural resources. These easements are granted to a qualified organization or government agency and are legally binding on future owners. | |
| Eminent Domain / Condemnation Easement | An Eminent Domain / Condemnation Easement arises when the government—or a private utility company authorized by law—takes part of a landowner’s property rights without the owner’s consent in order to serve a public use, such as roads, utilities, pipelines, or public infrastructure. Instead of taking full ownership, the government may only take an easement interest, which allows specific use of the land while leaving ownership with the property owner. |
Easement Attorneys In Rogers County
If you are facing an easement dispute or need to establish an easement in Rogers County, it’s important to understand how they work and what your rights and obligations are. For a free consultation with a business litigation and easement attorney in Rogers County, call the Kania Law – Claremore attorneys at 918.379.4872. Or if you would like to ask an online legal question, follow this link
