JTC Oil Company, Inc., et al Missouri Cases

JTC Oil Company, Inc. and Jerry Kerr appealed the circuit court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the City of Grandview. The underlying dispute involved the City's denial of JTC's application to install oil wells, which JTC and Kerr claimed constituted inverse condemnation. The trial court found their oil and gas lease had terminated due to non-production, thus negating a valuable property right. The appellate court reversed and remanded, holding that the City, though a non-party, could challenge the lease's validity as a defense, but found a genuine issue of material fact existed regarding lease termination due to misinterpretation of "production" versus "sales" and failure to consider the temporary cessation of production doctrine or abandonment.