PPGMR Law Successfully Appeals Adverse Possession Decision for Client SEECO, Inc.

PPGMR Law’s Scott Morgan and Patrick Feilke recently appealed a lower court decision and successfully obtained a reversal from the Arkansas Court of Appeals for firm client SEECO, Inc., and co-Plaintiff Joyce Walls, parties to a lease of certain partial mineral rights connected with acreage located in White County, Arkansas.  The dispute arose after Plaintiff Walls discovered that the Defendant had commenced drilling on the property without accounting for Plaintiff’s interest.  The lower court had held that the mineral rights Plaintiff purported to lease to SEECO had been sold in a 1958 tax sale and, because the Defendant took possession of the disputed mineral rights upon drilling the first well more than two years before Plaintiff commenced her lawsuit, Plaintiff’s suit for quiet title of the rights was barred by the statute of limitations in ACA § 18-61-106(a).  

The Arkansas Court of Appeals reversed the lower court decision and summarily held that the 1958 tax sale was void because the mineral assessments were not properly recorded, or “subjoined,” as required by law at the time.  As a result, Plaintiff did in fact own the disputed mineral rights and, therefore, SEECO’s lease was valid.  The Court of Appeals also rejected the Defendant’s argument that Plaintiff’s suit was barred by the two-year statute of limitations and held that, regardless of when the statute of limitations began to run, neither Defendant’s mineral exploration nor his production was shown to be adverse to Plaintiff’s interest in the minerals.

A copy of the Court of Appeals’ Order is available for review here.