State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SB0104

 
                                              LRB9201635DHmbA

 1        AN ACT in relation to coal.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  1.  Short  title.   This Act may be cited as the
 5    Coal Rights Act.

 6        Section 5.  Purpose.  In recognition of the fact that  an
 7    estate  of  a  joint  owner  in  coal  can be enjoyed only by
 8    mining, removing, and selling the products of the  coal,  and
 9    that the mining, removal, and sale of coal by one joint owner
10    therefore  constitutes the use and not the destruction of the
11    common estate, the purpose of this  Act  is  to  clarify  the
12    rights  of joint owners of coal in this State, to promote and
13    preserve the value of coal reserves  in  the  State,  and  to
14    maximize  the  recovery  of  coal  through  the  orderly  and
15    efficient development of coal reserves for the benefit of all
16    joint owners in a fair and equitable manner.

17        Section 10.  Definitions.  As used in this Act:
18        "Joint  owner"  means  a person or entity that is a joint
19    tenant, a tenant in common, or a tenant by the entirety.
20        "Coal owner" means a person or entity vested with a whole
21    or undivided fee simple interest or other  freehold  interest
22    in  the  coal  estate,  but  "coal  owner" does not include a
23    person or entity with a leasehold or any other lesser estate.

24        Section 15.  Venue.   Proceedings under this Act must  be
25    brought  in  the  circuit  court  of the county in which coal
26    lands sought to be affected, or the major  portion  of  those
27    lands, is located.

28        Section 20.  Joint owners; trusts.
 
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 1        (a)  If  the  title  to  coal  is owned by joint tenants,
 2    tenants in common, or tenants by the  entirety,  whether  the
 3    title  is  derived  by purchase, legacy, or descent, any coal
 4    owner or owners vested with at least a one-half  interest  in
 5    the  coal  under  the  lands,  or any coal lessee of the coal
 6    owner or owners, upon proper petition, shall be authorized to
 7    mine and remove coal from the land in the manner provided  in
 8    this Act.
 9        (b)  The  circuit  court  of the county in which the coal
10    lands or the major portion of those lands lie has  the  power
11    to  declare a trust in those lands, appoint a trustee for all
12    persons  owning  an  interest  in  the  coal  who   are   not
13    plaintiffs,  and  authorize the trustee to sell, execute, and
14    deliver a valid lease on those lands on behalf of all of  the
15    defendants  on  terms  and conditions approved by the circuit
16    court for the purposes provided in this Act.  The lease shall
17    continue in full force and effect after  the  termination  of
18    the  trust unless the lease has previously expired by its own
19    terms.

20        Section  25.  Proceedings  for  appointment  of  trustee.
21    Proceedings  for  the  appointment  of  a  trustee   may   be
22    instituted by any person or persons (i)  vested in fee simple
23    with  at  least  an  undivided  one-half interest in the coal
24    sought to be developed  or  (ii)  vested  with  a  valid  and
25    subsisting  coal  lease,  the  lessor  of  which  is a person
26    defined in subdivision (i).

27        Section 30.  Procedure.
28        (a)  The person or persons seeking  to  impress  a  trust
29    upon   a  coal  interest  for  the  purpose  of  leasing  and
30    developing it shall join as the defendant or  defendants  all
31    persons,  other  than  the  plaintiff or plaintiffs, having a
32    legal interest in the coal.  All parties  not  in  being  who
 
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 1    might have some contingent or future interest in the coal and
 2    all  persons,  whether  in  being or not in being, having any
 3    interest, whether present, future, or contingent, in the coal
 4    interest sought to be leased shall  be  fully  bound  by  the
 5    proceedings.
 6        (b)  A  verified  petition  shall  be  filed specifically
 7    setting forth the following:
 8             (1)  The request of the plaintiff or plaintiffs that
 9        a trustee be appointed to execute a  lease  granting  the
10        plaintiff or plaintiffs the right to mine and remove coal
11        from the subject lands.
12             (2)  The legal description of the lands.
13             (3)  The  interest of the plaintiff or plaintiffs in
14        the coal underlying the lands.
15             (4)  The  apparent  interest  of  the  defendant  or
16        defendants in the coal underlying the lands.
17             (5)  That the plaintiff or plaintiffs are willing to
18        purchase a mineral lease covering  the  interest  of  the
19        defendant  or  defendants and that the existence of these
20        unleased mineral interests is detrimental to and  impairs
21        the  enjoyment  of  the  interest  of  the  plaintiff  or
22        plaintiffs.
23        (c)  If  in  any  action  there  are persons who would be
24    unknown parties as defined in Section 2-413 of  the  Code  of
25    Civil  Procedure, those persons may be made defendants to the
26    action in the  same  manner  and  with  the  same  effect  as
27    provided  in  the  Code of Civil Procedure.  The defendant or
28    defendants shall be given  notice  of  the  pendency  of  the
29    action  by  publication  as  provided  in  the  Code of Civil
30    Procedure.
31        (d)  The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for  any
32    party  to the proceeding who is a ward and is not represented
33    by a guardian.
34        (e)  If it appears that any person  not  in  being,  upon
 
                            -4-               LRB9201635DHmbA
 1    coming  into  being,  is  or  may  become  or may claim to be
 2    entitled to any interest in the property sought to be leased,
 3    the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to appear for and
 4    represent the interest in the proceeding and  to  defend  the
 5    proceeding  on  behalf  of  the  person not in being, and any
 6    judgment or order rendered in the proceeding is as  effectual
 7    for  all purposes as though the person were in being and were
 8    a party to the proceeding.
 9        (f)  The court shall take evidence and hear testimony  as
10    to  the  matters  set forth in the petition.  The court shall
11    determine  the  prevailing  terms  of  similar  coal   leases
12    obtained  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lands  described in the
13    petition, including, but not limited to,  length  of  primary
14    term,  bonus  moneys, delay rentals, royalty rates, and other
15    forms of  lease  payments.   If,  upon  taking  evidence  and
16    hearing  testimony,  it appears that the material allegations
17    of the petition are true and that there has  been  compliance
18    with the notice provisions of this Act, the court shall enter
19    an  order  determining  the interest of each defendant in the
20    coal sought to be leased.  The court  shall  also  appoint  a
21    trustee  for  the  purpose  of  executing  in  favor  of  the
22    plaintiff or plaintiffs a coal lease covering the interest of
23    the  defendant  or  defendants.   The judgment appointing the
24    trustee and authorizing the  execution  of  the  lease  shall
25    specify  the  minimum  terms  which  may  be  accepted by the
26    trustee.  Those terms shall be substantially consistent  with
27    the  terms  of  other  similar  coal  leases  obtained in the
28    vicinity as determined by the court.  The terms of  the  coal
29    lease  shall  also be substantially consistent with the terms
30    of other existing leases, if any, covering the remaining coal
31    interests in the lands described in the petition.  The  lands
32    to  be covered by the coal lease shall be contiguous.  To the
33    extent that any of the lands described in  the  petition  are
34    not  contiguous  to  other lands in the petition, those lands
 
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 1    shall be the subject of  separate  coal  leases.   The  court
 2    shall  determine  a  reasonable fee to be paid to the trustee
 3    and that fee, together with the  reasonable  attorney's  fees
 4    and costs of the proceeding incurred by the trustee, shall be
 5    paid by the plaintiff or plaintiffs.
 6        (g)  The plaintiff or plaintiffs shall forthwith  furnish
 7    the  court  with  a  report  of  proceedings  of the evidence
 8    received and testimony taken at the hearing on the  petition,
 9    and  the report of proceedings shall be filed and made a part
10    of the case record.
11        (h)  In  all  suits  under  this  Act,  the   court   may
12    investigate  and  determine  all  questions of conflicting or
13    controverted titles, remove clouds  from  the  title  to  the
14    coal,  and establish and confirm the title to the coal or the
15    right to mine and remove coal from any of the lands.
16        (i)  An action filed under this Act may be joined with an
17    action under the Severed Mineral Interest Act.

18        Section 35.  Coal leases; report by trustee.  The trustee
19    shall  enter  into  negotiations  with   the   plaintiff   or
20    plaintiffs  and  shall  execute  a coal lease in favor of the
21    plaintiff  or  plaintiffs  covering  the  interest   of   the
22    defendant  or  defendants.  The terms of the coal lease shall
23    be in accordance with the findings and judgment of the court.
24    The trustee shall forthwith prepare and file a report of sale
25    of the coal lease stating the terms  of  the  lease  and  the
26    payments  received  for  the  lease  and  give  notice to all
27    parties appearing of record.   If the court  finds  that  the
28    sale  was  in accordance with its judgment, the sale shall be
29    confirmed by court order and the court shall order the  trust
30    terminated and the trustee and his or her bond discharged.

31        Section 40.  Payment.  All moneys due to the defendant or
32    defendants  under  the lease executed by the trustee shall be
 
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 1    paid by the plaintiff or plaintiffs directly to the defendant
 2    or defendants.

 3        Section 45.  Binding effect of lease.   The sale  of  and
 4    execution  of any coal lease under this Act is binding in all
 5    respects as to all of the interest in the coal and the  right
 6    to  mine  and  remove  the  coal  owned  by  the defendant or
 7    defendants to the  action  in  the  same  manner  as  if  the
 8    defendant  or  defendants had personally signed and delivered
 9    the lease.  The  lease  shall  be  binding  upon  the  heirs,
10    legatees,  personal  representatives, successors, and assigns
11    of the defendant or defendants.

12        Section   50.  Incapacity    of    trustee;    subsequent
13    proceedings.
14        (a)  In  the  event  of  the  death or resignation of the
15    trustee or the refusal or inability of the  trustee  to  act,
16    the  court,  upon  its  own  motion or upon the motion of the
17    plaintiff or plaintiffs, shall appoint a successor trustee.
18        (b)  After the entry of the initial judgment  authorizing
19    a  lease,  all subsequent proceedings pertaining to the lands
20    and the coal interest involved  in  the  initial  litigation,
21    including  subsequent  leasing  proceedings or proceedings by
22    the trustee  requesting  authority  to  execute  and  deliver
23    additional  documents  pertaining  to  a coal lease, shall be
24    commenced and prosecuted in the same case as the  proceedings
25    for the initial lease.  The acting trustee at the time of any
26    subsequent  proceedings  shall  act  as  the trustee in those
27    proceedings.   The court shall  retain  continuing  authority
28    and jurisdiction to conduct the subsequent proceedings.

29        Section  55.  Costs.   All  court  costs  incident to the
30    proceedings authorized under this Act shall be  paid  by  the
31    plaintiff or plaintiffs.
 
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 1        Section  60.  Construction.   This Act shall be liberally
 2    construed so that any lease issued  under  this  Act  conveys
 3    merchantable title.

 4        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
 5    becoming law.

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