High Plains Oil, Ltd. v. High Plains Drilling Program-1981, Ltd.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Davis, J.:

This case presents a question of priority between a county government’s judgment liens for personal property taxes and a bank’s prior perfected mortgage in proceeds from the partition sale of an oil and gas lease. The trial court held for the county. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that K.S.A. 79-2111 did not give the county priority because the property was not “seized by any legal process.” We granted the county’s petition for review.

This case began with a partition action filed on April 14, 1988, by High Plains Oil, Ltd., (High…