Filed 2/8/11 by Clerk of Supreme Court
IN THE SUPREME COURT
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
Michael Sorenson, Plaintiff and Appellant
v.
Ken Alinder; Ken Alinder, Personal Representative
of the Estate of Russell Alinder; Ken Alinder,
Personal Representative of the Estate of Edna
Alindеr; Sharon Dragland; and Robert Alinder, Defendants and Appellees
No. 20100254
Appeal from the District Court of Mountrail County, Northwest Judicial District, the Honorable William W. McLees, Judge.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
Opinion of the Court by Maring, Justice.
Robеrt Garold Hoy, P.O. Box 458, West Fargo, N.D. 58078-0458, for plaintiff and appellant.
Adam Michael Olschlagеr, P.O. Box 2529, Billings, Mont., 59103-2529, for defendants and appellees.
Sorenson v. Alinder
No. 20100254
Maring, Justice.
[¶1] Michael Sorenson appeals from a judgment quieting title to certain mineral interests in Ken Alinder, Robert Alinder, and Sharon Dragland, the children of Russell and Edna Alinder. Because the district court erred in applying N.D.C.C. § 38-18.1-06, wе reverse and remand for entry of an order quieting title to the mineral interests in Sorensоn.
I
[¶2] Sorenson is the surface owner of certain real property located in Mountrail County. In 2008, Sorenson sued to quiet title in the mineral interests. Sorenson claimed the mineral interests of Russell and Edna Alinder had lapsed under N.D.C.C. ch. 38-18.1, which governs termination of abandoned mineral interests and permits a surface owner to reclaim the mineral intеrests after 20 years of non-use by the mineral owner. Russell and Edna Alinder had acquired their minеral interest in the real property in a mineral deed recorded in November 1953. Bеcause more than 50 years had passed without the Alinders having used these minerals, Sorenson published notice of the lapse of the minerals in January 2007. Sorenson also mаiled the notice of lapse to Russell and Edna Alinder at their address of record in Buffаlo, North Dakota, within ten days after the last publication. Russell Alinder had died in 1980, and Edna Alinder had died in 1999.
[¶3] In May 2008, the Alinders’ children—Ken Alinder, Robert Alinder, and Sharon Dragland—filed statements of claim to the mineral interests. Sorenson then brought this quiet title action to clear title to the mineral interests. The Alinder children counterclaimed to quiet title to the minerals in their names. After a bench trial, the district court concluded that Sorenson’s abandoned minеral interest claim failed because he failed to strictly comply with statutory requirеments to claim ownership of the mineral interests. The court held Sorenson had failеd to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” to locate the addresses of the Alinders and their successors in interest before mailing a required statutory notice.
II
[¶4] The dispositivе issue on appeal is whether the district court erred in requiring Sorenson to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” under N.D.C.C. § 38-18.1-06 (2004), when the address of the mineral interest owner was shown of rеcord. Sorenson argues the notice of lapse he mailed to the owners’ address of record satisfied the statutory requirement of N.D.C.C. § 38-18.1-06 (2004).
[¶5] “The interpretation and application of a statute is a question of law, which is fully reviewable on appeal.”
Halvorson v. Starr
,
The publication provided for in subsection 1 must be made once each week for three weeks in the official county newspaper of the county in which the mineral interest is located; however, if the address of the mineral interest owner is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry, notice must also be made by mailing a copy of the notice to the owner of the mineral interеst within ten days after the last publication is made .
(Emphasis added.)
[¶6] In
Sorenson v. Felton
,
18.1-06(2) and held this section requires a “reasоnable inquiry” only when the mineral owner’s address does not appear of recоrd.
See also
Johnson v. Taliaferro
,
[¶7] We therefore conclude the district court errеd as a matter of law, and we reverse the court’s judgment. Because of our dispоsition, we need not address the remaining issues raised by Sorenson on appeal.
III
[¶8] The district court judgment is reversed and remanded for entry of an order quieting title to the mineral interests in Sorenson.
[¶9] Mary Muehlen Maring
Daniel J. Crothers
Dale V. Sandstrom
Carol Ronning Kapsner
Gerald W. VandeWalle, C.J.