Wilson v. Marceil GreenHalgh Bishop

This litigation arose in 1976 when it was discovered that commercial quantities of oil underlay a portion of a 72-acre tract of land in White County in which the surface area is owned by plaintiff, Robert Joe Wilson. The dispute concerns ownership of an undivided one-third interest in the oil and gas, which plaintiff claims pursuant to the operation of the dormant mineral interests act (the Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 30, pars. 197, 198). The circuit court of White County, however, held that those sections “violate the due process and contract clauses of the Constitutions of the State of…