State of Texas, Petitioner v. Lynn D. Durham and Clarence Scharbauer, Trustees Under the Will of Fred Turner…

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the appellate court’s grant of take‑nothing summary judgment to the defendants and remanded for further proceedings, holding that the surface owner under the Relinquishment Act owes a fiduciary duty to the State and may not acquire a working interest in the minerals. The Court also found that the prior 1934 judgment did not bar the State’s fraud claim under res judicata. Two dissenting opinions argued that the lease was valid and that res judicata barred the State’s suit.