Case Name: RICHARDSON & BASS (Louisiana Account) v. BOARD OF LEVEE COMMISSIONERS OF The ORLEANS LEVEE DISTRICT et al.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1955-06-30
Citations: 91 So. 2d 353
Docket Number: No. 42057
Parties: RICHARDSON & BASS (Louisiana Account) v. BOARD OF LEVEE COMMISSIONERS OF The ORLEANS LEVEE DISTRICT et al.
Judges: • HAMITER, J., dissents with written reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 91
Pages: 353–375

Head Matter:
231 La. 299
RICHARDSON & BASS (Louisiana Account) v. BOARD OF LEVEE COMMISSIONERS OF The ORLEANS LEVEE DISTRICT et al.
No. 42057.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
June 30, 1955.
On Rehearing Feb. 20, 1956.
On Second Rehearing Nov. 5, 1956.
On Amendment of Second Rehearing Nov. 21, 1956.
Appeal Dismissed Dec. 17, 1956.
See 77 S.Ct. 325.
James David McNeill, Kalford K. Miaz-za, Clem H. Sehrt, New Orleans, for Orleans Levee Bd., appellant.
Leander H. Perez, Charles J. Rivet, New Orleans, for Police Jury of Plaquemines Parish, appellee.
Plauche & Plauche, S. W. Plauche, Jr., New Orleans, for Delta Development Co., Inc., appellee.
William M. Campbell, Jr., New Orleans, for John E. Pottharst, Sr., intervenor.
Provosty, Sadler & Scott, Alexandria, for Richardson & Bass (Louisiana Account) .

Opinion:
HAWTPIORNE, Justice.
This is a concursus proceeding instituted by Richardson & Bass (Louisiana Account), the operator of Cox Bay Unit No. 2, in which there are four producing wells designated as Wells Nos. 4-H, 6-H, 7-H, and 14-H. Richardson & Bass deposited in the registry of the court the proceeds of 55 per cent of the royalty oil and gas produced from Cox Bay Unit No. 2, alleged a dispute over ownership of land in this unit and conflicting claims to the royalties, and prayed that the claimants of this royalty oil and gas be cited to appear and assert their respective claims and that there be judgment distributing the sum deposited, as well as any future sums which might accrue and be deposited, to the owner or owners thereof.
The claimants of the royalties are the Board of Levee Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District, the Plaquemines Parish Police Jury, which is the governing authority of the Grand Prairie Levee District, and Delta Development Company, Inc. Both the Orleans Levee Board and the Grand Prairie Levee District claim the ownership of land situated in the Parish of Plaquemines described as the SJ4 of Section 18, T. 18 S., R. 16 E., which forms part of Cox Bay Unit No. 2. Delta Development Company claims an interest in the royalties under a lease from Grand Prairie Levee District.
The operator, Richardson & Bass, holds two mineral leases both of which cover, among other lands, the property described above. One lease was executed by Grand Prairie and the other by Orleans. The Grand Prairie lease was executed on July 20, 1936, in favor of Delta Development Company, Inc., as lessee, and Grand Prairie Levee District reserved to itself a ]/& royalty. Subsequently Delta Development Company executed a sublease in favor of Richardson & Bass in which Delta reserved to itself a Yi8 overriding royalty. The Orleans lease was executed in favor of Richardson & Bass on March 30, 1950, and the Orleans Levee Board reserved to itself a %6 royalty.
It will thus be seen that the royalties reserved in these acts of lease are:
(1) Ys to Grand Prairie and 14s to Delta, or a total of Vis', and
(2) %e, or %s, to Orleans.
The land here in controversy covered by these leases was pooled with property covered by a lease from the State of Louisiana, and by these pooling agreements Cox Bay Unit No. 2 was created. Under these agreements 45 per cent of the royalty oil and gas produced from the unit is payable to the State of Louisiana and is not involved in this suit. The royalties due-from the other 55 per cent of the oil and gas produced from the unit are those which are in dispute in this concursus proceeding.
John E. Pottharst, Sr., as owner of $10,-000 of bonds issued by Grand Prairie Levee District, intervened in this concursus proceeding, espousing the claim of Grand Prairie Levee District to ownership of the land in question and opposing the claim of Orleans Levee Board. Pottharst contends that these bonds are secured by a mortgage on the disputed land, and that, if the claim of the Orleans Levee Board is recognized, the obligation of the contract under which these bonds were issued would be impaired.
The lower court in its judgment recognized Grand Prairie Levee District to be the last record owner of the property described, and recognized its lease to Delta Development Company, Inc., and Delta's sublease to Richardson & Bass (Louisiana Account), the operator. Accordingly the court recognized Grand Prairie Levee District as being entitled to Vs of 55 per cent of the minerals produced by the operator, Richardson & Bass (Louisiana Account), from the four producing wells in Cox Bay Unit No. 2, and recognized Delta Development Company as being entitled to J4s of 55 per cent of these minerals, and ordered the funds on deposit to be so distributed. The judgment of the lower court also maintained the intervention of John E. Pottharst, Sr., and rejected all claims of the Orleans Levee Board. From this judgment the Orleans Levee Board appealed.
Claimant Grand Prairie Levee District was created by Act 24 of 1898, which provided for the transfer to it of certain State-owned lands embraced within the area of the district thus created. Pursuant to this act the Register of the State Land Office conveyed to this levee district the Si/2 of Section 18, T. 18 S., R. 16 E., which, as we have stated, forms a part of Cox Bay Unit No. 2. This act of conveyance was dated January 18, 1905, and is recorded in Conveyance Book 39, Folio 105, of the records of Plaquemines Parish. Grand Prairie has never divested itself of title to this property and is, according to the conveyance records of Plaquemines Parish, the last record owner of it. This deed from the State is the basis of Grand Prairie's claim to royalties from the producing wells in Cox Bay .Unit No. 2.
The Orleans Levee Board claims these royalties, contending that it was vested with title to the land by the provisions of certain acts of the Legislature.
By Act 99 of 1924 the Legislature, in order to protect the City of New Orleans from flood waters of the Mississippi River, authorized the Board of Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District to construct on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish a spillway or waste weir, to be located and designed according to plans and specifications to be approved by the State Board of Engineers and the Mississippi River Commission. This act authorized the Orleans Levee Board to acquire by purchase, donation, or expropriation the lands necessary for the construction of such works, and required the Orleans Levee Board to pay for all lands privately owned "within the area covered by the proposed plan from the upper to the lower limits thereof and from the Mississippi River to. the sea". The act also provided that the Orleans Levee Board was to arrange with Grand Prairie for the acquisition of the bonded and other indebtedness of the Grand Prairie Levee District in the area to be affected by the proposed work.
Pursuant to the authority of this act the Orleans Levee Board removed approximately 11 miles of the existing levee on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Plaq- uemines Parish and constructed what is termed a "back levee", located 2,500 to 3,-000 feet back of the Mississippi River, from the lower line of the Bohemia Plantation to the upper line of the Cuselich Canal. Levees at the lower line of the Bohemia Plantation and at the upper line of Cuselich Canal were also constructed to connect the back levee with the existing levees along the east bank of the Mississippi. In the back levee there were certain openings through which in times of high water the waters from the Mississippi River flowed into a large canal, also constructed by the Orleans Levee Board, on the east or sea side of the back levee. After entering this canal the waters then flowed into bayous or streams and ultimately to the sea. This spillway is commonly known as the Bohemia Spillway.
Following the adoption of Act 99 of 1924, which authorized the construction of the spillway, the Legislature adopted Act 246 of 1928 (R.S. 38:991 et seq.) which had for its purpose to amend and reenact Act 24 of 1898, the act creating the Grand Prairie Levee District. This amending act provided that all territory therein described, which was located in the Parish of Plaquemines on the east bank of the Mississippi River and adjoining the spillway area on the south, was to be embraced in the -limits of, and should constitute, a levee district known and styled as the Grand Prairie Levee District.
In this amending act all lands within the levee district as reorganized were made subject to taxation, local assessment, etc., in order to raise funds to construct and maintain in this new district levees to protect the lands of the district from overflow. In order to provide additional means to carry out the purposes of the act and to furnish resources to enable the' levee district to develop and establish a complete levee system in the district, all lands then belonging to the State, or that might thereafter belong to the State, and embraced within the limits of the district as therein constituted were conveyed to the Grand Prairie Levee District, and the district was given power and authority to sell, mortgage, pledge, and dispose of such lands.
It will thus be seen that this 1928 amending act recreated and reestablished the Grand Prairie Levee District in the Parish of Plaquemines in territory below the spillway area, and divested it of all rights and relieved it of all duties in the area of the spillway which it had formerly had under the provisions of Act 24 of 1898.
In 1942 the Legislature adopted Act 311, which according to its title, was an act "to confirm and quiet the Board of Levee Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District in the ownership and control of all public lands in the Bohemia Spillway when it was constructed by said Levee Board in obedience to Act 99 of the Legislature of 1924".
In the preamble to the 1942 act the .Legislature recognized that the Orleans Levee Board was authorized and required by Act 99 of 1924 to construct the Bohemia Spillway in the Parish of Plaquemines in the then Grand Prairie Levee District; that, with the consent and approval of the State Board of Engineers and the United States authorities, the Orleans Levee Board located this spillway in the Grand Prairie Levee District "in the entire area from the lower line of the Bohemia Plantation to the upper line of the Cuselich Canal, embracing. all the area in those limits between the Mississippi River and the sea"; that the spillway had been in existence for 16 years; that the Orleans Levee Board had paid to the Grand Prairie Levee District the entirety of its outstanding indebtedness and "was thereby entitled to and invested with all the rights, title and interest" of Grand Prairie Levee District "in the entire area of said spillway where the property was dedicated for said uses", and that the former rights of Grand Prairie Levee District accrued to and became the rights and property of the Orleans Levee Board; that the Legislature by Act 246 of 1928 recreated and reorganized the Grand Prairie Levee District in the section below the spillway, from Cuselich Canal, above, to Cubitt's Gap, IS miles below its former lower boundary, and that the Grand Prairie Levee District had been removed and ousted from the spillway.
Section 1 of this act reads as follows:
"Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana, That the right, title, ownership and possession of the Board of Levee Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District to- all public lands in the area of the Bohemia Spillway between the Bohemia Plantation, above, and Cuselich Canal, below, and from the river to the sea subject to whatever valid leasehold rights as may have been granted by the Grand Prairie Levee District on lands previously granted and conveyed to it, prior to the passage of this Act, be now confirmed, quieted amd acknowledged, it being recognized that said rights, ownership and possession came into existence when said Orleans Levee Board located and constructed said Bohemia Spillway in the year 1925." (Italics ours.)
Both the Orleans Levee Board and the Grand Prairie Levee District are creatures or agencies of the State, and, as between them and the State, the State is at liberty'to revoke any 'grant of land made by' it to one district and to vest title in the other. Grand Prairie Levee District acquired the property in question from the State pursuant to the provisions of Act 24 of 1898, and the State under the plain provisions of Section 1 of Act 311 of 1942, which is unambiguous, clear, and not susceptible of judicial interpretation, has confirmed, quieted, and acknowledged the right, title, ownership and possession of Orleans Levee Board to this property.
This act.of 1942 is a legislative conveyance, vesting title in the Orleans Levee Board without necessity of formal act of conveyance. By its very terms it vests in the Levee Commissioners of Orleans Levee District the right, title, ownership, and possession of all public lands "in the area of the Bohemia Spillway between Bohemia Plantation, above, and Cuselich Canal, below, and from the river to the sea", and the Si/2 of Section 18, T. 18 S., R. 16 E., is conceded to be in this area.
The 1942 act granted and confirmed the title of the Orleans Levee Board to all public lands in the spillway area in the Parish of Plaquemines. Since this was the purpose of the act, its adoption by the Legislature had the effect of divesting Grand Prairie of its title to any lands in the spillway area; or, in other words, the act effectively revoked the grant to Grand Prairie made by Act 24 of 1898 of the lands in the spillway area and vested - title to these lands in the Orleans Levee Board. In adopting the 1942 act the Legislature recognized and took cognizance of the provisions of Act 99 of 1924, authorizing the construction of the spillway, and Act 246 of 1928, recreating the Grand Prairie Levee District and ousting it from the area of the spillway.
As we have heretofore pointed out, Section 1 of Act 311 of 1942 confirmed the title of the' Orleans Levee Board to all pub- lie lands in the spillway area. This confirmation of title, however, was made "subject to whatever valid, leasehold rights as may have been granted by the ,Grand Prairie Levee District on lands previously granted and conveyed to it, prior to the passage of this Actf'. (Italics ours.)
Act 99 of 1924 authorizing the construction of the spillway did not locate or describe the spillway area. It provided only for the construction of the spillway in the Parish of Plaquemines on the east hank of the Mississippi River, to be located -and designed according to plans and specifications to be approved by the State Board of Engineers and the Mississippi River Commission. This act authorized the Orleans Levee Board to acquire by purchase or expropriation all lands privately owned within the area covered by the proposed plan from the upper to the lower limits thereof and from the Mississippi River to the sea. Even this provision, however, did not fix the upper and lower limits of the proposed spillway. In other words, the Legislature in 1942 obviously took full cognizance of the fact that anyone relying on the public records and even on the provisions of the 1924 act itself could not definitely ascertain the spillway area.
The 1942 act did, however, definitely fix the spillway area, as being located "between the Bohemia Plantation, above, and Cu-selich Canal, below, and from the river to the sea". Since this area had not been definitely fixed by the 1924 act, the Legislature saw fit in the 1942 act, which confirmed and quieted the title of the Orleans Levee Board to all public lands in this area, to provide — as it had a right to do — that the title of Orleans Levee Board was subject to whatever valid leasehold rights as may have been granted by Grand Prairie Levee District, prior to the passage of the 1942 act on lands which had been previously granted or conveyed to the Grand Prairie Levee District.
The S14 of Section 18, which had been conveyed to Grand Prairie Levee District by the State in 190S, and of which it was the owner of record, was leased by Grand Prairie to Delta Development Company in 1936, before the adoption of Act 311 of 1942. Consequently, under the provision which we have quoted .from Section 1 of the 1942 act, the Orleans Levee Board's title was confirmed subject to these valid leasehold rights of Delta Development Company. In other words, the lease from Grand Prairie to Delta conferred valid leasehold rights on Delta and its sublessee, Richardson & Bass, the operator, and Delta Development Company is entitled to receive the overriding royalty reserved by it in its sublease to Richardson & Bass. Orleans Levee Board, however, as the present fee owner of the property, is entitled to receive the lessor's royalty reserved in the Grand Prairie lease. Grand Prairie, having been divested of title, is not entitled to any royalty from the four producing wells in Cox Bay Unit No. 2.
Since there was in existence an oil and gas lease on this property executed in 1936 by Grand Prairie to Delta Development Company, the subsequent oil and gas lease granted by Orleans to Richardson & Bass in 1950 is invalid and has no force and effect, the royalty reservation contained in the Orleans lease has no force and effect, and Richardson & Bass is not bound to pay any royalties under the Orleans lease.
The land here involved, the Si^.of Section 18, is located on the east or sea side of the so-called back levee constructed by Orleans Levee Board, and approximately one mile from this back levee. It is argued that this land has never been a part of the Bohemia Spillway, is wholly outside the limits of the spillway, and has never been inundated by, or received, any waters from the Mississippi River, and that for these reasons Grand Prairie has never been divested of its title to the land .by any of the acts of the Legislature relied upon by the Orleans Levee Board.
It is true that these lands are not located .in the spillway itself, that is, between the river and the back levee. Be that as it may, the Legislature in the 1942 act confirmed and quieted title in- the Orleans Levee Board to all public lands in the spillway area and defined this area with certainty to be the area between the Bohemia Plantation, above, and Cuselich Canal, below, and from the river to the sea. The lands here involved are in the spillway area as so defined.
Appellees argue, however, that Act 311 of 1942, which we have held quieted, confirmed, and acknowledged the right, title, and ownership of the Orleans Levee Board to the lands in question, is unconstitutional in that this act violates Article 3, Section 16, of the Louisiana Constitution, which provides that every statute enacted by the Legislature shall embrace but one object and shall have a title indicative of its object.
In Ricks v. Department of State Civil Service, 200 La. 341, 8 So.2d 49, this court pointed out that it was not the purpose of this constitutional provision to require that the title be an index to the contents of the act, or that every end and means convenient or necessary for the accomplishment of the general object of the act be set out at length in the title, but it is deemed sufficient under the article if the act contains but one object and if the object be fairly stated, although it be expressed in general terms, in the title of the act* Moreover, all things proper or necessary to carry out the general object as stated in the title are deemed to be within the scope of the title. The test is primarily whether the various provisions of the act are germane to the object of the act as expressed in the title.
Obviously- Act 311 of 1942 has but one object, and we think the title is clearly indicative of that object and that the provisions of the act are germane to the object as expressed in the title.
Appellees next argue that the 1942 -act violates Article 4, Section 12, of the Louisiana Constitution, which provides, among other things, that the funds, credit, property or things of value of the State, or of any political corporation thereof, shall not be loaned, pledged, or granted to or for any person or persons, associations or corporations, public or private.
In Fisher v. Steele, 39 La.Ann. 447, 1 So. 882, this court held that levee districts were not political corporations within the scope of this article of the Constitution. Moreover, by the act quieting title in the Orleans Levee Board the State was not parting with title within the meaning of this constitutional provision, but was only placing the property under the control of one of its agencies for supervision and administration. The land to all practical intents and purposes, is still the property of the State. See State ex rel. Board of Commissioners of Tensas Basin Levee District v. Grace, 161 La. 1039, 109 So. 830.
It is next argued that • the 1942 act is an attempt by the Legislature to interpret Act 99 of 1924, and that it therefore violates Sections 1 and 2 of Article 2 of our state Constitution because the interpretation of a legislative act is strictly and solely a judicial function.
As we have said, the Legislature in adopting the 1942 act recognized and took cognizance of the provisions of Act 99 of 1924, but the 1942 act is not a legislative interpretation of the 1924 act. The 1942 act stands alone. It confirmed the title of the Orleans Levee Board to all lands in, the spillway area. The fact that this act does stand alone is evidenced by the fact that Act 99' of 1924 has been repealed.
It is still further argued that, if the 1942 act should be construed to give effect to the disposition of the lands of Grand Prairie Levee District by Act 99 of 1924, an act which appellees contend is illegal, then the 1942 act violates Article 4, Section 4/ of our Constitution, which prohibits the Legislature from enacting any local or special law legalizing the unauthorized or invalid acts of any officer, servant, or agent of the State, or of any parish or municipality thereof.
Although the Legislature treated this statute as a local or special law, we have grave doubt that it is such a law. See Knapp v. Jefferson-Plaquemines Drainage District, 224 La. 105, 68 So.2d 774. Moreover, we have not construed the 1942 act as giving effect to'any disposition of Grand Prairie's lands that might have been made in the 1924 act, but have held that the 1942 act, standing alone, confirmed and quieted title in the Orleans Levee Board.
The intervenor, John E. Pottharst, S'r., as the owner of $10,000 of bonds issued by the Grand Prairie Levee District in September, 1938, contends that his bonds are secured by a mortgage on the property here involved, the S V2 °f Section 18, T. 18 S., R. 16 E. He argues that, if this court should recognize that Act 311 of 1942 confirmed title to these lands in the Orleans Levee Board, then that act would be unconstitutional, in violation of Article 4, Section 15, of the Louisiana Constitution and Article 1, Section 10, of the United States Constitution, both of which provide that no law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed. Appellee Grand Prairie Levee District also makes this same contention.
At the time these bonds were issued in September of 1938, the Grand Prairie Levee District, as we have pointed out, had been recreated, reestablished, and reorganized by the provisions' of Act 246. of 1928 in territory below the spillway area and had been divested of all its rights and relieved, of all its. duties in the area of the spillway. These bonds were issued under the provisions of Sections 12 and 19 of Act 24 of 1898 as amended by the provisions of Act 325 of 1938. Although this 1938 act provides that, whent bonds are issued thereunder, the bonds shall be secured by a mortgage on all said! levee district lands, this could only mean that these bonds are secured by a mortgage on the property within the confines of the levee district itself as created and-defined by the act of 1928. The lands here in question are not in this new levee district, but are located in the spillway area from which Grand Prairie Levee District has been ousted. Consequently Pottharst has no mortgage on these lands for the payment of the bonds held' by him, and his bonds are secured only by mortgage and taxation on all lands owned by the Grand Prairie Levee District as reorganized and reconstituted by the 1928 act. Therefore the 1942 act cannot be said to impair the obligation of the contract under which these bonds were issued.
As we have shown, the royalties stipulated in the Orleans lease are greater than those which are due under the Grand Prairie lease. At the beginning of this-concursus Richardson & Bass, operator of Cox Bay Unit No. 2, deposited in the registry of the court a sum sufficient to pay royalties under either lease. Since we have concluded that the Orleans Levee Board is entitled to receive ]/& of 55 per cent of the royalties due under the Grand Prairie lease and that Delta Development Company is entitled to receive Via of 55 per cent of such royalties under its sublease to Richardson & Bass, there will be a surplus ' in the funds deposited in the registry of the court which should be returned to Richardson & Bass, the operator, in accordance with the prayer of its petition.
Because of the conclusion which wé have reached in this case, we have decided to set aside the judgment of the district court and to recast it in its entirety, as follows:
, It is now ordered that the judgment appealed from 'be set aside.
It is ordered that all claims of the Plaquemines Parish Police Jury, as governing authority of Grand Prairie Levee District, to any part of the funds deposited in the registry of the court be denied, as well as its claim to the proceeds of any future royalties from Wells Nos. 4 — H, 6-H, 7-H, and 14-H in Cox Bay Unit No. 2. '
It is further ordered that the Board of Levee Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District recover i/& of 55 per cent of the proceeds of the oil and gas produced by Richardson & Bass (Louisiana Account) from the four wells designated above; that Delta Development Company, Inc., recover Jás of 55 per cent of the proceeds of the oil and gas produced from these wells; that each be paid so much of the funds deposited in the registry of the court as represents the value of the interest of each, and that' after such distribution any surplus remaining in the funds so deposited be returned to Richardson & Bass.
It is further ordered that the intervention of John E. Pottharst, Sr., be dismissed at his costs.
It is ordered that all costs of these proceedings be paid from the fund in the registry of the court to be distributed to Orleans .Levee Board and Delta Development Company, Inc., and that these lit-. igants have judgment against Plaquemines Parish Police Jury, as governing authority of Grand Prairie Levee District, and John E. Pottharst, Sr., for such costs insofar as allowed by law.
The clerk of court is ordered to distribute the funds on deposit in the registry of the court in accordance herewith.
• HAMITER, J., dissents with written reasons.
. The other 45 per cent of the proceeds of the royalty oil and gas produced from Cox Bay Unit No. 2 is conceded to be due to the State of Louisiana under a lease from it, and the State's title is not involved in the present controversy. The lease from the State of Louisiana by its terms covers "All State owned water bottoms, including the beds of all rivers, bayous, lakes and streams " in Cox Bay Unit No. 2.
. This same requirement was made as to the indebtedness of the East Bank Levee District.
. The case of Emery v. Orleans Levee Board, 207 La. 386, 21 So.2d 418, is authority for the proposition that State-owned lands located in, the spillway itself were by the provisions of Act 99 of 1924 dedicated and set aside for public use. The lands in the instant case are not in the spillway itself.
. In discussing this act we have omitted all reference to the East Bank Levee District.
. The Legislature by the plain terms of Act 311 of 1942 vested, quieted, and confirmed title in the Orleans Levee Board to all public landá within the area described in the act, and did not convey title to any water bottoms, such as the beds or bottoms of rivers, bays, bayous, lakes, and streams.
. Act 99 of 1924 was expressly repealed by Section 2 of the Revised Statutes of 1950.
. Art. 56 of the Constitution of 1879.