West Hardin County Consolidated Independent School District v. Wallace Maury Poole D/B/A L&B Production

The West Hardin County Consolidated Independent School District obtained an in rem delinquent property tax judgment against an oil and gas lease that Wallace Maury Poole owned and operated. Poole did not appeal, and the District foreclosed its judgment lien on the leasehold, taking ownership. The Railroad Commission then directed Poole to plug a well on the lease, see Tex. Nat. Res.Code § 89.022(d), which Poole failed to do. Poole asserted that the responsibility lay with the District, the new owner, or alternatively, that the District had prevented him from reentering the premises with…