State law reference
Kansas Dormant Mineral Act
What does the Kansas Dormant Mineral Act say? An interest in coal, oil, gas or other minerals that is unused for 20 years lapses and ownership reverts to the current surface owner unless a statement of claim is filed. No court action is needed for the lapse.
Official text cited Researched and checked by American Mineral Registry against the official text; review completed October 1, 2026. Reference research, not legal advice.
- Rule type
- Dormant mineral statute
- Period
- 20 years
- Ends without a surface owner step
- Yes
- Preservation filing
- Available
- Forced pooling statute
- Statute found
Official text cited - Surface damages statute
- No statute found
- Deceased or unlocated owner
- Partly checked
How the rule works
Mineral interest lapse statute, 20 years, self executing with a 60 day cure. An interest in coal, oil, gas or other minerals that is unused for 20 years lapses and ownership reverts to the current surface owner unless a statement of claim is filed. No court action is needed for the lapse. The mineral owner can still undo it by filing a statement of claim within 60 days after the successor publishes notice of the lapse, or, if no notice is published, within 60 days after learning of the lapse.
What has to happen
None for the lapse itself. The person who will succeed to the interest shall publish notice of the lapse in a newspaper of general circulation in the county and, if the owner's address is of record or can be found on reasonable inquiry, mail a copy by restricted mail within 10 days after publication; a copy with an affidavit of publication and service promptly filed with the register of deeds is prima facie evidence that notice was given (55-1605). The register records statements of claim and proofs of notice and notes them in the margin of the instrument that created the interest (55-1606).
What counts as use or preserves the interest
Any minerals produced under the interest
Operations conducted on the interest for injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal of water, gas or other fluid substances
Rentals or royalties paid by the owner of the interest for the purpose of delaying or enjoying the use or exercise of the mineral rights
Use or exercise of the mineral rights on a tract with which the interest may be unitized or pooled for production purposes
For coal or other solid minerals, production from a common vein or seam by the owners of the mineral interests
Taxes paid on the mineral interest by its owner
A statement of claim filed in time, treated as use on its filing date (55-1604(a))
Any use under or authorized by the instrument creating the interest continues all rights granted by that instrument (55-1603(b))
Preservation filing
Statement of claim filed with the register of deeds of the county where the land lies, giving the owner's name and address and a description of the land on or under which the interest lies, before the end of the 20 year period or within three years after the act took effect, whichever is later (55-1604(a)). A statement filed within 60 days after published notice of lapse, or within 60 days after actual knowledge of the lapse if no notice is published, prevents extinguishment (55-1604(b)).
Scope
- Interests covered
- An interest created by an instrument transferring, by grant, assignment, reservation or otherwise, an interest of any kind in coal, oil, gas or other minerals (55-1601). Ownership reverts to the current surface owner (55-1602).
- Minerals covered
- Coal, oil, gas and other minerals.
- Exceptions
No exclusion for government owned interests or any class of interest is stated in 55-1601 to 55-1607
The act may not be waived before the 20 year period expires (55-1607)
- Enactment and amendments
- L. 1983, ch. 185, sections 1 to 7, effective July 1, 1983. For interests already unused when the act took effect, a statement of claim could be filed until three years after the effective date (55-1604(a)). The official history lines show no later amendment.
Dates and what they mean
A last use date plus the statutory period gives only an illustrative anniversary: the first day the nonuse condition could be met if nothing that counts as use happened since. It is not a loss date. Try the dormant mineral rule finder.
The lapse is automatic 20 years after the last use, so a calculator can show that anniversary as an illustration. It cannot see unrecorded uses such as tax payments, rentals or production on pooled tracts, the claim deadline for interests already dormant in 1983 ran to three years after July 1, 1983, and a lapse is reversed by a claim filed within 60 days after published notice or actual knowledge.
Deceased or unlocated owner
Partly checked What the law of Kansas says when the owner of record has died, is unknown, or cannot be found. It sets out the questions; it does not decide who owns an interest, whether a notice was valid, or whether an interest ended.
Why only partly checked. What a reasonable inquiry requires, and whether mail to a deceased owner’s record address suffices, is open; no Kansas decision on it was found.
Kansas lets an unused mineral interest lapse to the surface owner after twenty years, but the owner can still file a statement of claim within sixty days after the successor publishes notice, or within sixty days after actual knowledge if no notice is published. Notice is published and also mailed by restricted mail if the owner's address is of record or can be found by reasonable inquiry, a term the act does not define; the notice names the owner as shown of record. The Court of Appeals holds that an heir by intestacy is an owner who may file a claim without a decree of descent. Separately, a district court may appoint a receiver to lease a minority mineral interest whose owners cannot be located.
- Owner of record has died
- Heirs by intestate succession own from death and may file a statement of claim without a decree of descent (Nickelson v. Bell). Whether mailing to a deceased owner's record address satisfies 55-1605 was not addressed in any source found.
- Current owner unknown
- Not addressed in the lapse act; publication is always required (55-1605). The receivership statute speaks of whereabouts, not identity.
- Owner known but cannot be found
- Mailing is required only if an address is of record or found by reasonable inquiry (55-1605). A receiver may lease a minority interest whose owners' whereabouts are unknown (55-219 to 55-221).
How the nonuse rule treats these owners Statute
Twenty years of nonuse; lapse and reversion without a court action, subject to the post notice claim window.
Statute
A mineral interest unused for twenty years lapses and reverts to the current surface owner unless a statement of claim is filed. K.S.A. 55-1602
“An interest in coal, oil, gas or other minerals, if unused for a period of 20 years, shall lapse, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with K.S.A. 55-1604, and the ownership shall revert to the current surface owner.”
Scope: All mineral interests created by instrument (55-1601). Silent on deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.
Heirs, devisees and successors Court decision
The act says 'owner', not 'record owner', for claims; heirs who acquired by intestacy are owners entitled to file.
Court decisions
An heir by intestate succession is an owner who may file a statement of claim without first obtaining a decree of descent. Nickelson v. Bell, No. 114,507 (Kan. Ct. App. Sept. 16, 2016), syllabus 6
“A person who has acquired a mineral interest through intestate succession is not required to possess a decree of descent obtained under K.S.A. 59-2251 prior to filing a claim under the mineral lapse statute.”
Scope: Kansas Court of Appeals, published opinion. No Kansas Supreme Court decision on K.S.A. 55-1601 et seq. was found, so it has not been displaced; it does not bind the Supreme Court. Syllabus by the court. The heirs filed within sixty days of published notice; the case does not address notice to heirs.
An owner under 55-1604 is anyone who has acquired the right to possess, use and control the mineral interest. Nickelson v. Bell (Kan. Ct. App. 2016), syllabus 4
“An owner of an unused mineral interest, as the term is used in K.S.A. 55-1604, is one who has acquired the right to possess, use, and control the subject mineral interests.”
Scope: Kansas Court of Appeals, published opinion. No Kansas Supreme Court decision on K.S.A. 55-1601 et seq. was found, so it has not been displaced; it does not bind the Supreme Court.
Search required to find the owner Statute
Lapse act: reasonable inquiry where no address is of record, undefined. Receivership: due diligence and sources checked must be stated in a verified petition.
Statute
The successor must mail the notice by restricted mail if the owner's address is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry. K.S.A. 55-1605
“if the address of the owner of the mineral interest is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry, by mailing a copy of the notice by restricted mail to the owner of the mineral interest within 10 days after publication.”
Scope: "Reasonable inquiry" is not defined in the act. No Kansas decision construing it, or applying it to a deceased owner, was found.
The receivership petition must list sources checked and state that the plaintiff exercised due diligence and cannot locate the defendants. K.S.A. 55-220(a)(3)
“the sources of information which plaintiff has checked in an attempt to locate the present address or whereabouts of said defendant or defendants, and further stating that plaintiff has exercised due diligence and cannot by any means within plaintiff's control ascertain the present address or whereabouts”
Scope: Receivership petitions under 55-219 and 55-220 only, not the lapse act.
Who gets notice, and how Statute
Restricted mail to the owner within ten days after publication if an address is of record or found by reasonable inquiry; notice names the owner as shown of record.
Statute
The successor must mail the notice by restricted mail if the owner's address is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry. K.S.A. 55-1605
“if the address of the owner of the mineral interest is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry, by mailing a copy of the notice by restricted mail to the owner of the mineral interest within 10 days after publication.”
Scope: "Reasonable inquiry" is not defined in the act. No Kansas decision construing it, or applying it to a deceased owner, was found.
The notice names the owner of the mineral interest as shown of record. K.S.A. 55-1605
“The notice shall state the name of the owner of the mineral interest, as shown of record; a description of the land subject to the mineral interest; and the name of the person giving the notice.”
Scope: All notices of lapse.
Notice by publication Statute
Publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county is required in every case.
Statute
The person who will succeed to the interest must publish notice of the lapse in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. K.S.A. 55-1605
“any person who will succeed to the ownership of the interest shall give notice of the lapse of the mineral interest by publishing notice of the lapse in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the land subject to the mineral interest is located”
Scope: Every notice of lapse; one publication is described and no precondition is stated.
How the owner responds or preserves Statute and court decisions
Statement of claim within sixty days after publication, or after actual knowledge if no notice is published; a timely claim prevents extinguishment without proof of use.
Statute
A late statement of claim still prevents extinguishment if filed within sixty days after published notice, or, if no notice is published, within sixty days after actual knowledge of the lapse. K.S.A. 55-1604(b)
“shall not cause a mineral interest to be extinguished if the owner of the mineral interest filed the statement of claim within 60 days after (1) publication of notice as prescribed by K.S.A. 55-1605, if such notice is published or (2) within 60 days after receiving actual knowledge”
Scope: Owner of the mineral interest; the act does not say "record owner" here (see Nickelson v. Bell on heirs).
Court decisions
A statement of claim filed within sixty days of published notice prevented extinguishment without proof of use. Scully v. Overall, 17 Kan. App. 2d 582, 587 (1992)
“We hold that the mineral interest was not extinguished or vested in the surface owners after 20 years of nonuse, when the mineral interest owners filed a statement of claim within 60 days from the publication of notice under K.S.A. 55-1604(b)(l).”
Scope: Kansas Court of Appeals, published opinion. No Kansas Supreme Court decision on K.S.A. 55-1601 et seq. was found, so it has not been displaced; it does not bind the Supreme Court. Review denied, 252 Kan. 1093 (per Nickelson v. Bell). Owners there were living and received the notice.
Court, receivership or trust for missing owners Statute
Receiver for minority mineral interests of owners whose whereabouts are unknown, K.S.A. 55-219 to 55-222: verified petition with due diligence, published and mailed notice, court set minimum lease terms, funds held by the court.
Statute
A mineral owner or lessee may ask the district court to appoint a receiver over a minority mineral interest whose owners' whereabouts cannot be ascertained. K.S.A. 55-219
“the district court of the county wherein such tract or tracts of land are situated shall have the power to appoint a receiver over the mineral interest of such defendants whose residence, business address, or whereabouts are unknown, upon compliance with the procedure set forth in K.S.A. 55-220.”
Scope: Only where the missing defendants own or appear to own in the aggregate a minority interest. Unlocated owners; the text does not mention heirs or unknown identity.
Notice of the receivership hearing is by one publication in the county of the land and of any Kansas last known address, and by certified mail to the last known address. K.S.A. 55-220(b)
“Notice of the hearing, the nature of the hearing and relief requested shall be given by publication one (1) time in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the property is located and also in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of the last known address of the defendant or defendants”
Scope: Receivership hearings; the same subsection adds certified mail to the last known address and to any third party taxpayer.
The receiver sells a lease of up to five years primary term; bonus and rentals are deposited with the court and later production payments are held in suspense or go to unclaimed property. K.S.A. 55-221
“All bonuses, rentals or other monies paid to the receiver for the execution or extension of the oil and gas lease shall be by the receiver deposited with the court for the use and benefit of the defendants.”
Scope: Receiverships under 55-219. The provisions read do not say whether a receiver's lease is a use under the lapse act.
What a title review must establish
- Was notice of lapse published, and was it mailed by restricted mail to the owner shown of record, or was a reasonable inquiry made where no address was of record (notice, search)?
- If the owner shown of record is dead, did any heir file a statement of claim within sixty days after publication, or after actual knowledge if no notice was published (succession, response)?
- Has a receiver been appointed under 55-219 for a missing minority owner, and are funds held by the court or in suspense (special_mechanism)?
Dates. Lapse if 'unused for a period of 20 years' (55-1602). Original claim deadline: 'prior to the end of the twenty-year period ... or within three years after the effective date of this act, whichever is later' (55-1604(a); act effective July 1, 1983). Mailing 'within 10 days after publication' (55-1605). Late claim 'within 60 days after' publication, or 'within 60 days after receiving actual knowledge that the mineral interest had lapsed, if such notice is not published' (55-1604(b)). Receivership hearing at least 'thirty (30) days from the date of the mailing of notice', notices 'at least seven (7) days prior to the date of hearing' (55-220(b)); receiver's lease primary term 'not to exceed five years' (55-221). The provisions read do not say how death affects any period; under 55-1604(b)(2) the actual knowledge window runs from knowledge, and whose knowledge counts for heirs is not addressed. The rule finder does not calculate this period.
What AMR searched. Read: K.S.A. 55-1601 to 55-1607, 55-1610 to 55-1613 (not relevant), 55-219 to 55-225, 55-1301 to 55-1306 (unitization, not relevant), 55-169 (ksrevisor.gov). Opinions read: Scully v. Overall, 17 Kan. App. 2d 582 (1992); Nickelson v. Bell, Kan. Ct. App. No. 114,507 (2016). Located through the Revisor's case annotations and two web searches. Not reviewed: Uniform Unclaimed Property Act K.S.A. 58-3934 et seq., probate code beyond the sections quoted in Nickelson, quiet title. A point marked not addressed means only that the provisions read do not address it; probate, quiet title and other general procedures may still apply and were not reviewed.
Not settled by this review.
What a 'reasonable inquiry' under 55-1605 requires, and whether mailing to a deceased owner's record address suffices; no Kansas decision found.
Whether the 55-1604(b)(2) actual knowledge window can run against unknown or unlocated heirs when no notice is published.
Whether a 55-219 receiver's lease counts as use under 55-1603.
Checked October 6, 2026. Also in the dormant mineral rule finder.
Forced pooling
Official text cited The Kansas Corporation Commission can order unitization and unit operation of a pool or part of a pool (K.S.A. 55-1301 to 55-1317); the order takes effect only after written approval by owners who will pay at least 63 percent of unit costs and by royalty owners holding at least 63 percent, or 75 percent where the order rests on the waste prevention finding (55-1305). A city that allows drilling may divide itself into drilling units by ordinance, which must require owners to pool (55-1610 to 55-1613). No general commission power to force pool an ordinary drilling unit was found in the Chapter 55 caption index.
Surface damages
No statute found No statute requiring operators to compensate surface owners for damage was found. The Kansas surface owner notice act (K.S.A. 55-169 to 55-169b, 2009) and 55-151(a) are notice only: the intent to drill application must name the surface owner, and the commission sends the surface owner a copy unless the operator verifies it delivered the application.
Searched: ksrevisor.gov Chapter 55 (Oil and Gas) caption index, Articles 1 to 18, searched for surface, owner and damage, plus full text of 55-151(a), 55-169, 55-169a and 55-169b. Other chapters and commission regulations were not searched.
Taxes
Broad personal income tax: yes. Nonresidents owe Kansas tax on Kansas source income, which includes income from real or tangible personal property located in Kansas, and residents count all income earned while a Kansas resident. Official text cited Source and notes.
Severance or production tax. 8 percent of gross value, less a 3.67 percent credit where property tax is paid on the oil or gas, with exemptions for low producing wells. Official text cited Full record: rates, exemptions, royalty owner share and sources.
Not tax advice. Rates change and the cited source controls.
Sources for the dormant mineral rule
Each source was read on the date shown. Where an official site was not available, the official page was read through a dated Internet Archive copy and that is stated.
- K.S.A. 55-1602
“An interest in coal, oil, gas or other minerals, if unused for a period of 20 years, shall lapse, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with K.S.A. 55-1604, and the ownership shall revert to the current surface owner.”
- K.S.A. 55-1601
“As used in this act, "mineral interest" means an interest created by an instrument transferring, by grant, assignment, reservation or otherwise, an interest of any kind in coal, oil, gas or other minerals.”
- K.S.A. 55-1603(a)(1) to (2)
“A mineral interest shall be considered to be used when: (1) There are any minerals produced under the interest; (2) operations are being conducted on the interest for injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal of water, gas or other fluid substances;”
- K.S.A. 55-1603(a)(3) to (4)
“(3) rentals or royalties are being paid by the owner of the interest for the purpose of delaying or enjoying the use or exercise of the mineral rights; (4) the use or exercise of the mineral rights is being carried out on a tract with which the mineral interest may be unitized or pooled for production purposes;”
- K.S.A. 55-1604(a)
“A statement of claim may be filed by the owner of a mineral interest prior to the end of the twenty-year period specified by K.S.A. 55-1602 or within three years after the effective date of this act, whichever is later.”
- K.S.A. 55-1604(b)
“Failure to file a statement of claim within the time prescribed by subsection (a) shall not cause a mineral interest to be extinguished if the owner of the mineral interest filed the statement of claim within 60 days after (1) publication of notice as prescribed by K.S.A. 55-1605, if such notice is published”
- K.S.A. 55-1605
“Upon the lapse of a mineral interest under K.S.A. 55-1602, any person who will succeed to the ownership of the interest shall give notice of the lapse of the mineral interest by publishing notice of the lapse in a newspaper of general circulation in the county”
Open questions for a specialist
This review did not settle these points. They are where a Kansas title attorney or landman should look first.
Kansas appellate decisions applying 55-1601 to 55-1607 were not researched, for example whether production by a lessee or on a pooled unit, or rentals paid by a lessee, satisfy uses that the text ties to the owner.
How the 60 day cure in 55-1604(b) affects a surface owner's title before notice is published should be checked by a specialist.
Common questions
Can mineral rights lapse in Kansas?
Yes. Kansas’s statute can end an interest after 20 years without use, and it works by itself, without a court case or a notice from the surface owner. Recording the statement the statute provides keeps the interest alive; the rule and its citation are under How the rule works.
How long before unused mineral rights lapse in Kansas?
20 years. Twenty years of nonuse (K.S.A. 55-1602). Any use listed in 55-1603 restarts the period, and a statement of claim filed in time counts as use on the date it is filed (55-1604(a)).
How can an owner keep a Kansas mineral interest from lapsing?
By recording the filing the statute provides before the period runs. What it must contain and where it is recorded are under Preservation filing above.
Does Kansas allow forced pooling?
Yes. Kansas has a forced pooling statute, summarized with its citation under Forced pooling above.
Does Kansas require payment for surface damage?
A search of Kansas’s official code found no surface damages statute of that kind. Leases, deeds and general law can still give the surface owner a claim.
What changed
The June 2026 edition listed Kansas as Can lapse / revert, lapse period 20 years. Release 2026.10 replaced that entry with the reviewed rule above, and retired the June risk score and ranking for every state. Release 2026.10.1 added the deceased or unlocated owner section. See all changes.
Cite this page
American Mineral Registry. "Kansas Dormant Mineral Act." U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1, October 6, 2026. https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ kansas-dormant-mineral-act
[Kansas Dormant Mineral Act](https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ kansas-dormant-mineral-act), U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
<a href="https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ kansas-dormant-mineral-act">Kansas Dormant Mineral Act</ a>, U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
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title = {Kansas Dormant Mineral Act},
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General information about statutes, not legal advice and not a title opinion. Facts about a specific interest decide the outcome. Published by American Mineral Registry, which also runs a commercial service for owners; see how the two relate.