Texaco, Inc., et al. v. Short et al. (454 U.S. 516)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 12, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 454 U.S. 516 · 102 S. Ct. 781
- Decided
- January 12, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. In 1971 the Indiana Legislature enacted a statute providing that a severed mineral interest that is not used for a period of 20 years automatically lapses and reverts to the current surface owner of the property, unless the mineral owner files a statement of claim in the local county recorder’s office. The Indiana Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the statute. - Ind. - , 406 N. E. 2d 625 (1980). We noted probable jurisdiction, 450 U. S. 993, and now affirm. As the Indiana Supreme Court explained, the Mineral Lapse Act “puts an end to interests in coal, oil, gas or other minerals which have not been used for twenty years.” The statute provides that the unused interest shall be “extinguished” and that its “ownership shall revert to the then owner of the interest out of which it was carved.” The statute, which became effective on September 2, 1971, contained a 2-year grace period in which owners of mineral interests that were then unused and subject to lapse could preserve those interests by filing a claim in the recorder’s office. The “use” of a mineral interest that is sufficient to preclude its extinction includes the actual or attempted production of minerals, the payment of rents or royalties, and any payment of taxes; a mineral owner may also protect his interest by filing a statement of claim…
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