Did Former Ohio Law Allow Surface Owners to Claim Mineral Rights Without Notifying Inactive Mineral Rights Owners?

Patricia J. Shondrick-Nau, Executrix of the Estate of John R. Noon v. Jon D. Walker Jr., Case No. 2014-0803

Seventh District Court of Appeals (Noble County)

ISSUES:

- Was the 1989 Dormant Mineral Act (DMA) a self-executing law that required mineral owners to take an action before March 1992 to preserve their rights or face automatically losing them to the surface owners?

- Did the 2006 version of the DMA clarify that the 1989 act never meant to be a "use it or lose it" law, and required surface rights owners to serve notice to dormant mineral rights owners before attempting to acquire rights?

- Can surface rights owners who did not file to acquire the mineral rights until after 2006 claim the 1989 version of the DMA applies to their circumstances, or does only the 2006 version of the law apply?