On June 2, 2014, the Seventh District Court of Appeals issued a decision concerning the 1989 version of Ohio's Dormant Mineral Act (DMA). In Swartz v. Householder, the Court affirmed its earlier decision in Walker v. Noon and found that the 1989 DMA is self-executing, specifically rejecting the trial court decision in Dahlgren v. Brown Farm. The Court further held that the issue of the constitutionality of the 1989 DMA was waived on appeal, but suggested in dicta that it would look to Texaco v. Short, wherein the U.S. Supreme Court found the similarly-worded Indiana DMA constitutional. Finally, the Court declined to consider the appellant’s argument regarding the sufficiency of certain claims to preserve filed under the 2006 DMA as this issue was not decided by the trial court, but noted that any consideration of the 2006 DMA is moot in light of its holding on the 1989 DMA.
