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Following are frequently asked questions and answers. They are divided into four topic areas: Counties, NDACo, Oil, Gas & Minerals and Voting & Elections.
Please read through them first, and if you don't see an answer to your queestion, to ask your own question, please send an email to jeff.eslinger@ndaco.org. We will respond to you by email, and if we feel others would be interested in the same question, we'll post it below for everyone.
My siblings and I inherited mineral rights from our parents. Do we need to do anything to keep the mineral rights to this property in force?
Yes. State Law considers mineral interests to be "abandoned" if they have not been "used" for a period of 20 years. The interest is considered "used" if activity regarding this interest has taken place, generally documented by the recording of a lease, mortgage, statement of claim, etc. If the mineral interest is abandoned, the surface owner can record a document taking possession of that interest.
For an individual wishing to research possible mineral interests, therefore, the only effective method is a thorough review of the recorded documents. This review CANNOT be conducted by a County Recorder - county officials can make copies of specific documents requested (for an appropriate fee), but may not conduct the research often necessary to identify the relevant documents. This research must be conducted by the individual themselves or a private land record researcher. Some records from some counties are available on the World Wide Web through a subscription service, www.ndrin.com but in some cases, on-site review of the records will be necessary. The website contains free information about the extent of each county's records that it contains.
For further details, contact the County Recorder's Office in the county the rights are located. To get contact information for any county office quickly and easily, use our interactive county map at www.ndaco.org/cod
PLEASE NOTE: We strongly urge you to seek legal counsel on these matters, particularly when the mineral rights have been passed from one party to another party (or parties) and/or any time those rights may be at risk of becoming "abandoned." NDACo and individual counties can only point to appropriate resources, but cannot offer legal advice.