Court Opinion

ID: 9564902
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:11:06.302367+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:14.373830
License: Public Domain

URBIGKIT, Justice,
specially concurring, with whom THOMAS, J. joins.
Although I could find a substantive basis to affirm the decision of the land office for lease cancellation and also sustain the decision on procedural justification derived from non-exhausting administrative remedies, I do not find a final order was ever entered initiating judicial-review time limitations.1
In equal substance and significance to the inquiry whether a final order was entered involving this administratively defined state agency under the general jurisdiction of the administrative division of state government, is the question whether a sufficient exhaustion of administrative remedies occurred so that appeal to the courts was authorized at this juncture. A not dissimilar concern could be envisioned as to who makes final decisions for the highway commission, the state game and fish commission, the environmental quality *1248council, within the office of the Governor, or for that matter, a law clerk as an adjunct to the Wyoming Supreme Court accommodating a desired activity within the judicial branch of state government. Does a district highway engineer, a game warden, a field supervisor, or some other agency employee take final action upon which, without resort to the agency’s superintending or supervisory authority, judicial review becomes justified?
For this activity and agency, Wyo. Const. art. 18, § 3 provides:
“The governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor and superintendent of public instruction shall constitute a board of land commissioners, which under direction of the legislature as limited by this constitution, shall have direction, control, leasing and disposal of lands of the state granted, or which may be hereafter granted for the support and benefit of public schools, subject to the further limitations that the sale of all lands shall be at public auction, after such delay (not less than the time fixed by congress) in portions at proper intervals of time, and at such minimum prices (not less than the minimum fixed by congress) as to realize the largest possible proceeds. And said board, subject to the limitations of this constitution and under such regulations as may be provided by law shall have the direction, control, disposition and care of all lands that have been heretofore or may hereafter be granted to the state.”
The complementary statute provides:
“The governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor, and superintendent of public instruction, being constituted a ‘board of land commissioners’ by the provisions of section 3, article 18, of the constitution of the state of Wyoming, shall as such board, have the direction, control, leasing, care and disposal of all lands heretofore or hereafter granted or acquired by the state for the benefit and support of public schools or for any other purpose whatsoever, subject to the limitations contained in the constitution of the state, and the laws enacted by the legislature. The board shall have the power and authority to take such official action as may be necessary in securing title to land grants, or any other lands acquired by the state.” Section 36-2-101, W.S.1977.
In effectuation of that responsibility, the state land office, as an agency under the general administrative jurisdiction of the Governor of the State of Wyoming, was created.2 The duties of the commissioner of public lands are specified as:
“The commissioner of public lands shall •keep the records of the board of land commissioners, and be the secretary thereof. He shall make out and countersign all patents, contracts or other instruments issued by him to purchasers and others, and make out and sign all leases. He shall keep a record of all such leases, patents or other instruments in books or other records. He shall file and preserve in his office all bonds, contracts, leases, and other instruments given by lessees, purchasers and others. He shall have the custody of the seal of the board, and shall keep the minutes of the proceedings thereof, and shall perform such other duties concerning the business transactions of the board as it may direct. He shall receive all applications for purchasing, leasing, entering, locating or in any manner acquiring title to, interest in, or any benefit from or use of any lands belonging to or under the control of the state of Wyoming, and he shall allow or disallow, subject to the *1249approval of the board of land commissioners, such applications to purchase, lease, enter or otherwise acquire title to, interest in, benefit from or use of the lands, or the appurtenances thereof, and in all cases where there have been no conflicting applications, he shall report his decisions to the board for its approval at its next ensuing regular or special meeting, but in all cases where there have been conflicting applications to lease or otherwise acquire interests or benefits in the lands, he shall, before reporting his decisions to the board, give each of the applicants notice of what his decision is with reference to their applications, and if none of the applicants files an appeal in writing from the decisions of the commissioner to the board within a period of thirty (30) days, except in the case of oil and gas leases when the period shall be not less than ten (10) days nor more than thirty (30) days at the discretion of the board, after the date of the notice, the commissioner shall report his decision to the board for approval at its next meeting and in case an appeal in writing is taken from the decision of the commissioner to the board of land commissioners within the time provided, the commissioner shall give each of the applicants at least ten (10) days’ notice, except in the case of oil and gas leases when the period shall be five (5) days’ notice in writing of the date on which the appeal will be heard by the board. * * * ” Section 36-3-102(a), W.S.1977 (1988 Cum.Supp.).
Provision for judicial appeal is provided in § 36-2-206, W.S.1977 from the state board, but no similar provision is included as to any direct appeal from the commissioner of public lands or the land office which would encompass judicial review without first exhaustion of the administrative authority and final decisional power of the board of land commissioners.
The board’s primary jurisdiction over state lease cancellation is designated in § 36-5-113, W.S.1977:
“The board shall have the power and authority to cancel leases procured by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, or for use of the lands for unlawful or illegal purposes, or for the violation of the covenants of the lease, upon proper proof thereof.”
See also § 36-6-101, W.S.1977, for designation of authority for oil and gas leases as conforming to the Constitution.
This relationship between the land office, the commissioner of public lands, and the board of land commissioners was specifically addressed by this court in Reese v. Bruegger Ranches, Inc., Wyo., 463 P.2d 23, 25 (1969):
“Under art. 18, § 3, Wyoming Constitution, and under § 36-14, W.S.1957, constitutional and statutory authority is granted to the Board of Land Commissioners to lease lands of the state. Thus, the Commissioner could not finally determine what rental would be due in a contested case of this kind, without the Board’s approval; and if he attempted to notify the contestee that the contestee had to accept his recommendation and pay the balance recommended by him, such notice would be premature if it preceded action by the Board.
******
“It will be noticed that § 36-34 [presently § 36-3-102, W.S.1977] requires the Commissioner to give notice to the contesting parties of his decision. Even if there is no appeal, he still must report his decision to the Board for approval at its next meeting. * * *
“ * * * There can be no doubt that the Board is free to follow or to modify or to disregard what the Commissioner has recommended.”
In regard at least to the issue of this case, an oil and gas lease cancellation or nonrenewal, it is clear that the basic administrative jurisdiction rests with the board of land commissioners. There may be functions of the commissioner of public lands where direct reference to the court for judicial review might exist, but this case is certainly not of that category.
I would hold that neglect of the lease-right litigant to seek board review forecloses any direct appeal by review from the *1250courts. Consequently, I specially concur that no decision was made which is properly now presented here for judicial review. This court addressed an almost identical issue involving the state engineer and the state board of control, by an order in Wyoming Water, Inc. v. George L. Christopulos, No. 86-177, dated December 3, 1987, remanding to the district court for entry of an order remanding the case to the state board of control, with instructions that a hearing be held by the state board of control. Cf. Willadsen v. Christopulos, Wyo., 731 P.2d 1181 (1987), and Green River Development Co. v. FMC Corp., Wyo., 660 P.2d 339 (1983), Thomas, J., specially concurring. The Wyoming Water case did at least pass through the board of control, which affirmed without hearing, and which is absent in this case where reference to the responsible administrative agency with final decision was never requested nor provided. See Battle, Administrative Law, Wyoming Style, XVIII Land & Water L.Rev. 223, 256 (1983) to “agencies with very substantial powers — e.g., the Board of Land Commissioners,” and others. Unfortunately, nothing in this extended law journal article discussed the supposition that intermediate agency personnel might make final agency decisions. For a discussion of the general authority of the board of land commissioners under the Constitution and statutes, see Mayor v. Board of Land Com’rs, 64 Wyo. 409, 192 P.2d 403, reh’g denied 195 P.2d 752 (1948); State ex rel. Cross v. Board of Land Commissioners, 50 Wyo. 181, 62 P.2d 516 (1936); and State ex rel. Walls v. State Board of Land Com’rs, 36 Wyo. 302, 254 P. 491 (1927). The doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies was directly addressed by this court in People v. Fremont Energy Corp., Wyo., 651 P.2d 802 (1982) and City of Cheyenne v. Sims, Wyo., 521 P.2d 1347 (1974).
“* * * The exhaustion doctrine applies where an agency alone has been granted or found to possess exclusive jurisdiction over the case. The purpose of the doctrine then is to avoid premature interruption of the administrative process where the agency has been created to apply a statute in the first instance. * * * ” People v. Fremont Energy Corp., supra, 651 P.2d at 811.
This policy application summarizes my analysis in this case, and I consequently submit this special concurrence.

. I am concerned with the apparent determination that an intermediate state employee can, by speed memo, take "final agency action" without demonstrated authority, and that this action is apparently now considered to be action of the designated administrator of the government agency, the State Land Commissioner, even though noticed in a form that lacks compliance with the requirement of Rule 12.04, W.R.A.P.:
" * * * within thirty (30) days after written, certified notice to all parties of the final decision of the agency or denial of the petition for rehearing, or, if a rehearing is held, within thirty (30) days after written, certified notice to all parties of the decision thereon, except that upon a showing of excusable neglect based upon the failure of a party to learn of the decision or the action, the district court may extend the time for filing the petition for review not exceeding thirty (30) days from the expiration of the original time herein prescribed. * * * ” (Emphasis added.)
It is unquestioned that no certified notice authored by whomever was ever sent, since the medium of communication was a speed memo sent by ordinary mail returning the tendered check. Real problems may arise in Wyoming administrative agency operations if intermediate-level employees are generally entrusted with formal agency-action authorization to make the "final decision" upon which judicial review is based. As a quick example, it is possible that this decision might extinguish the right of the agency head to make the final decision as then considered to be something in the nature of a rehearing, which might be subject to operational rules for authorization. The subject could be belabored in both operational practice and legal rules of authority delegation, but suffice it to say that this record simply lacks justification for designation of the returned check memo as of itself being final agency action. Furthermore, extraction of the certified mail requirement is unjustified and unexplained.

. The commissioner of public lands is appointed and removable by the Governor with senatorial confirmation for a term of two years. Section 36-3-101, W.S.1977. He keeps the records of the board of land commissioners and acts as secretary without vote. In a completely different constituency, the five elected officials are ex-officio members of the board of land commissioners, and have co-equal rights in voting subject to the designation of the Governor to act as president of the board. Section 36-2-103, W.S.1977. In the convoluted nature of Wyoming state government, the board and not the Governor appoints the state forester, § 36-2-108, W.S.1977, who heads the state forestry division and is under the supervision of the commissioner of public lands.