Ark. Code Ann. » Title 15 Chapter 74
Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 15-74-602 (2020)

Fraudulently withholding payments

✓ Arkansas Code release r76: Acts through about 2020 (2021-2025 sessions missing)
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaArk. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
  1. If the first purchaser, or owner of the right to drill and produce substituted for the first commercial purchaser as provided in this subchapter, violates this subchapter by willfully withholding payments without just cause or through bad faith from persons legally entitled to the proceeds from production, the court may award, in addition to the unpaid amount of proceeds and interest as provided in § 15-74-601, a penalty in an amount not to exceed simple interest at a rate of fourteen percent (14%) per annum on the amount of the unpaid proceeds from the due date as provided in § 15-74-601 and a reasonable attorney's fee.
  2. The terms of this section shall not be applicable to any producing unit or well that produces liquid hydrocarbons only, or liquid hydrocarbons associated with the production of gas, or gas produced associated with the production of liquid hydrocarbons.

History. Acts 1981, No. 269, § 1; 1983, No. 448, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 53-525; Acts 1987, No. 94, §§ 2, 4.

Case Notes

Construction with Other Law.

In an action for breach of an oil and gas lease, plaintiff lessor was not entitled to the penalty provided by subsection (a) of this section because, assuming that the lessor had furnished the lessee with the requisite notice pursuant to § 15-74-603, the lessor still failed to plead any facts that would support a finding that the lessee willfully withheld payments without just cause or in bad faith. Walls v. Petrohawk Props., LP, 812 F.3d 621 (8th Cir. 2015).

Cited: SEECO, Inc. v. Hales, 330 Ark. 402, 954 S.W.2d 234 (1997).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 2015–2015 · leading case: Dorchester Minerals, LP v. Chesapeake Expl., LLC, 215 F. Supp. 3d 756 (E.D. Ark. 2015).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Dorchester Minerals, LP v. Chesapeake Expl., LLC, 215 F. Supp. 3d 756 (E.D. Ark. 2015). · cites it 2× “Count III alleges that pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated § 15-74-602 Chesapeake is liable to Dorchester for a penalty of 14% of royalties because Chesapeake willfully withheld royalty payments without just cause or through bad faith.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.