Opinions

Wilkinson, et al. v. Board of University and School Lands of the State of N.D. 2020 ND 179
Docket No.: 20190354
Filing Date: 8/27/2020
Case Type: OTHER (Civil)
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Chapter 61-33.1, N.D.C.C., governs the State’s sovereign land mineral ownership of the riverbed segments subject to inundation by the Pick-Sloan Missouri basin project dams and provides a process for determining ownership and returning funds incorrectly paid to the State.

The State does not have any claim or hold title as sovereign lands to any minerals above the ordinary high water mark of the historical Missouri riverbed channel.

When N.D.C.C. ch. 61-33.1 applies to determine ownership of mineral interests, the process provided by the chapter must be followed to decide ownership.

Berg v. Jaeger, et al. 2020 ND 178
Docket No.: 20200184
Filing Date: 8/26/2020
Case Type: WRIT OF INJUNCTION (Civil)
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: The supreme court, in exercising its original jurisdiction, may issue a writ of injunction to restrain the commission or continuance of an act.

The five-year residency requirement of N.D. Const. art. V, § 4, relating to holding an executive branch office, does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

A person’s legal residence is a question of fact.

Haugen, et al. v. Jaeger, et al. 2020 ND 177
Docket No.: 20200213
Filing Date: 8/25/2020
Case Type: WRIT OF INJUNCTION (Civil)
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: The full-text requirement in N.D. Const. art. III, § 2, prohibits a petition to initiate a measure that would amend the Constitution from incorporating a statute by reference.

Krile v. Lawyer 2020 ND 176
Docket No.: 20190367
Filing Date: 7/30/2020
Case Type: TORTS (NEGLIGENCE, LIAB., NUIS.)
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald W.

Highlight: In deciding a motion to dismiss under N.D.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), district courts may consider materials embraced by the pleadings and materials that are part of the public record without converting the motion to a summary judgment under N.D.R.Civ.P. 56.

Communications made by a state’s attorney while performing an official duty as prescribed in N.D.C.C. § 11-16-01 are entitled to absolute privilege under N.D.C.C. § 14-02-05(1).

A communication made by a state’s attorney while performing his or her official duty to conduct criminal prosecutions under N.D.C.C. § 11-16-01(1) is absolutely privileged if made while performing an act or during an activity “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process.”

Disclosures made to an administrative agency, at the request of the agency, and during the course of a statutorily authorized investigation by the agency are absolutely privileged under N.D.C.C. § 14-02-05(2).

Sorum, et al. v. State, et al. 2020 ND 175
Docket No.: 20190203
Filing Date: 7/30/2020
Case Type: TAX RELATED
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: Where the State has a legal obligation that becomes unenforceable by the passage of a statute of limitations, the Legislative Assembly may waive or extend the limitation period to revive a previously valid claim against the State without making a prohibited “donation” within the meaning of the gift clause.

An action brought by an individual as a taxpayer facially challenging a statute does not fail merely because the statute includes constitutional applications along with potentially unconstitutional applications.

Wald v. Wald 2020 ND 174
Docket No.: 20190159
Filing Date: 7/30/2020
Case Type: DIVORCE/PROPERTY DIV./ALIMONY
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A real property owner may testify about the value of the land without any further qualification or special knowledge.

A district court has broad equitable powers to redistribute property and debts in a postjudgment proceeding if a party fails to comply with an order or judgment.

State v. Greenshields 2020 ND 173
Docket No.: 20190393
Filing Date: 7/27/2020
Case Type: SEXUAL OFFENSE
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A district court’s dismissal of a criminal complaint with prejudice is reviewed on appeal for an abuse of discretion.

A party may not collaterally attack a final decision that was not appealed in a subsequent proceeding.

Hess Bakken Investments II, et al. v. AgriBank, et al. 2020 ND 172
Docket No.: 20190352
Filing Date: 7/23/2020
Case Type: OIL, GAS AND MINERALS
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: The term “actual drilling operations,” as used in continuous drilling clauses in two oil and gas leases, is ambiguous as a matter of law.

Fredericks, et al. v. Vogel Law Firm, et al. 2020 ND 171
Docket No.: 20190272
Filing Date: 7/22/2020
Case Type: CONTRACTS
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald W.

Highlight: Res judicata prevents relitigation of claims that were raised, or could have been raised, in earlier actions between the same parties or their privies.

A party with a single cause of action generally may not split that cause of action and maintain several lawsuits for different parts of the action.

City of Fargo v. Wieland 2020 ND 170
Docket No.: 20200100
Filing Date: 7/22/2020
Case Type: REAL PROPERTY
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A district court’s order denying a request for post-judgment interest is affirmed.

Neither N.D.C.C. §§ 32-15-29 nor 32-15-30 provide for post-judgment interest on an award in an eminent domain proceedings subsequent to the political subdivision’s deposit of the full amount of the judgment in court.