On September 22, the Seventh District Court of Appeals issued a new decision concerning the 1989 version of the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act (1989 DMA). In Farnsworth v. Burkhart, the court reaffirmed its prior decisions in Dodd v. Croskey, Walker v. Noon and Eisenbarth v. Reusser and held:
1. The 1989 DMA is self-executing;
2. The 1989 DMA creates a fixed, rather than a rolling, look-back period; and
3. A reference to a prior mineral severance in a surface conveyance is not a title transaction savings event.
The court declined to consider the issue of the constitutionality of the 1989 DMA as it was not addressed by the parties in the lower court. Read the decision here.