Justia Arkansas Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Kenny and Shelia Staggs brought suit in circuit court seeking quiet title to the oil and gas rights on certain real property of which they claimed ownership of the surface and subsurface rights. The Staggses asserted that while Union Pacific Railroad Company claimed ownership of the oil and gas rights in the property and leased those rights to Heartland Exploration, it did so erroneously based on a 1934 deed. In the deed, Union Pacific's predecessor in title conveyed property to two individuals but reserved for itself "all the minterals" in or under the land. The Staggses contended that the oil and gas rights did not pass to Union Pacific but instead passed through the chain of title to them. Union Pacific, Heartland, and XTO Energy (collectively, Defendants) moved for summary judgment. The circuit court granted summary judgment for Defendants, finding that the general reservation of minerals in the 1934 deed included oil and gas as a matter of law. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that, based on case law, the 1934 reservation at issue included any rights to oil and gas. View "Staggs v. Union Pac. R.R." on Justia Law

Independence County and the City of Clarksville entered into a power purchase and sale agreement that included an arbitration provision. After the City informed the County that it was going to terminate the agreement, the County filed a motion to compel arbitration. The circuit court denied the motion, ruling that the arbitration agreement was unenforceable because (1) the City validly exercised its right to terminate the agreement, and without the revocation of the entire agreement, the City was released from the obligation to arbitrate; and (2) the arbitration agreement lacked mutuality of obligation. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not err in ruling that the arbitration agreement was unenforceable due to the absence of mutuality of obligation, and the arbitration agreement was void on that basis.

Appellant Taxpayers were the owners of all or a portion of the oil, gas and other minerals in, on, and under each of their real property located in the counties party to this lawsuit. Taxpayers filed a complaint against the Counties, seeking declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, alleging that an ad valorem property tax was an illegal exaction. The circuit court concluded that Taxpayers had failed to make a proper illegal-exaction challenge and dismissed their lawsuit. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court was correct in dismissing the Taxpayers' complaint where (1) the crux of Taxpayers' argument was that the tax assessed against them was illegal because the assessment was flawed; and (2) the Taxpayers' avenue of relief for its assessment grievance lay with each county's equalization board.

Three questions of law were certified to the Supreme Court from the federal district court. The certified questions arose from a complaint from Petitioner Hempstead County Hunting Club, Inc. (Hempstead). Hempstead contended that Respondent Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) violated multiple public utilities statutes in the construction of its "Turk Plant." The first question from the federal court involved whether Hempstead was required to bring its claims before the state Public Service Commission (PSC) before suing in federal court. The Supreme Court concluded that under Arkansas law, Hempstead was first required to bring its claims before the Arkansas PSC. A court review of its claims should be precluded until Hempstead exhausted its administrative remedies. As a result, the Supreme Court did not address the remaining two certified questions.