HOCHATOWN – About 300 southeastern Oklahoma residents will go the polls here Nov. 8 to decide whether or not to incorporate the tiny community of Hochatown.
The election was set after the McCurtain County Board of Commissioners voted in August to approve a petition asking for the vote. The commission’s decision came about five months after residents of Hochatown filed their paperwork seeking the vote.
The action also follows two lawsuits – one in McCurtain County District Court and the other in front of the Oklahoma Supreme Court – that asked the courts to force the commission to decide on the incorporation petition. Those lawsuits were filed after commission members voted unanimously in April to table action on the petition.
McCurtain County Commissioner Chris White moved to delay the vote because the board had not received an opinion from McCurtain County District Attorney Mark Matloff. However, a text message obtained by the Ledger showed at 6:03 p.m. May 4, Matloff said he would be discontinuing his research on the incorporation.
“Hey this is Mark Matloff,” the message said. “I have been informed the AG is doing an opinion for you on the incorporation. I have let the Commissioners know I will be discontinuing my research on the matter. Additionally, I informed them to follow the AG’s opinion.”
As of July 13, no opinion from Attorney General John O’Conner had been issued.
Since the commission’s August decision, both lawsuits have been dismissed as moot, said Edmond attorney Liz George, who represents the petitioners for incorporation.
Bob Burke, an Oklahoma City attorney who, along with George, represents the petitioners, said he was pleased by the court’s action.
“When registered voters in Hochatown go to the polls on November 8, they will be able to decide their future,” he said. “That is exciting. Hopefully, after the vote and a few months to work out necessary details, the Town of Hochatown will begin the staggering task of building infrastructure that meets the need of residents and the thousands of tourists who visit the area each week.”
Burke said the Hochatown incorporation process was personal.
“My late parents were born at Hochatown,” he said. “They have to be proud of the courage of Hochatown leaders who have stepped out to make life better for the future.”
An ongoing fight
The fight began in March, when more than 100 Hochatown residents filed the petition with the commissioners seeking a public vote on incorporation.
Oklahoma law requires the petition to be in writing and be signed by at least one-third of the registered voters residing in the town, as shown from the last general election or by at least 25 registered voters who live in the proposed town.
Dian Jordan, the petition organizer, said more than 125 residents had signed the document. She said the group needed 107 to get on the ballot.
The petition is the capstone of a three-decade-long effort to incorporate Hochatown. In 1963 the small community – originally a Choctaw settlement – lost its post office.
Since that time, however, the community has rebuilt itself and become a mecca for tourists from north Texas.
In the early 1990s, the community successfully fought off an annexation proposal by the city of Broken Bow. Then, in 2015, the Oklahoma Legislature passed a law which made it more difficult for municipalities to annex property into their corporate city limits.
But just days before that new law went into effect, the city of Broken Bow moved again to annex the portion of Hochatown where most of its businesses were located, along the north entrance of U.S. 259.
The case went to trial in February 2019. Following a two-day hearing in McCurtain County District Court, District Judge Jana Wallace issued a ruling against Broken Bow in July 2019.
Since 2006, tourism and cabin rentals in the Hochatown area have grown exponentially, driven by wealthy investors from north Texas. Records show that the Hochatown area has seen a 145% increase in travel spending due to tourism.
And as spending has grown, so has tax revenue.
Jordan said the fight over Hochatown’s incorporation was necessary to ensure the town had the proper infrastructure and municipal government. She said tourism has grown so much in the area that any weekend brings thousands and thousands of visitors to the area.
“When you have that many people, you need police and fire services, and you need a functioning municipal government,” she said.