82-10-101. Action for accounting for royalty. (1) Whenever an owner of a royalty interest in or attaching to lands producing natural gas, oil, or other minerals or in or to the natural gas, oil, or other mineral production from said lands, whether said royalty is payable in kind out of the product of the lands or out of the money proceeds from the sale of the product of said lands, shall make a written demand upon the person or persons obligated to deliver or pay such royalty for an accounting of the natural gas, oil, or other minerals produced from said lands and makes written demand for delivery or payment of such owner's royalty as may then be due and the person or persons obligated for the delivery or payment of said royalty fail to make the accounting demanded and the payment or delivery of the royalty due within a period of 60 days following the date upon which said demand is made, then the owner of said royalty may file an action in the district court of the county wherein said lands are located to compel the accounting demanded and to recover the payment or delivery of the royalty due against the person or persons obligated as aforesaid.

(2) In said action the successful party or parties recovering judgment against the person or persons obligated shall, in addition to relief by way of accounting and recovery of the royalty due as hereinabove provided, also recover judgment for a sum of money by way of reasonable attorney fees to be allowed by the court together with the costs allowed to successful parties by law in actions generally in said court.

(3) Whenever the same person or persons is or are obligated for delivery or payment of said royalty to separate owners of royalty in or to a tract of land or any portion of said land or the product of the whole or any part of said land, then any number of said owners of royalty may join their separate causes of action as parties plaintiff in the action herein provided for, and in their complaint filed in said action, each cause of action of each of the several plaintiffs shall be set forth separately in said complaint, and the judgment given, made, and rendered upon said complaint shall adjudge the relief to one or more of the plaintiffs and deny relief to any one or more of said plaintiffs accordingly as the evidence may establish.

(4) If the defendant or defendants prevail in said action against any one or more of said plaintiffs, the court shall adjudge and allow to such defendant or defendants and against the unsuccessful plaintiff or plaintiffs recovery of a sum of money as reasonable attorney fees to be allowed by the court and adjudge and allow costs to said defendant to be recovered from the said unsuccessful plaintiff or plaintiffs in said action, as provided for by law in actions generally in said court.

History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 78, L. 1943; R.C.M. 1947, 60-501.