Kodiak Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. v. Burr, No. 18-1824 (8th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this Case
Suits over oil and gas leases on allotted trust lands are governed by federal law, not tribal law, and the tribal court lacks jurisdiction over the nonmember oil and gas companies. This appeal involved a dispute over the practice of flaring natural gas from oil wells, and at issue was the scope of Native American tribal court authority over nonmembers. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of a preliminary injunction enjoining the tribal court plaintiffs and tribal court judicial officials and held that the district court correctly rejected the tribal court officials' argument that this suit was barred by tribal sovereign immunity.
The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the preliminary injunction because the oil and gas companies are likely to prevail on the merits. In this case, the district court correctly concluded that the oil and gas companies exhausted their tribal court remedies by moving to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction and appealing the issue to the MHA Nation Supreme Court; the district court correctly concluded that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction over the oil and gas companies; and the balance of the remaining preliminary injunction factors, along with the oil and gas companies' strong likelihood of success on the merits, showed that the district court did not abuse its discretion by granting the preliminary injunction.
Court Description: Grasz, Author, with Gruender and Benton, Circuit Judges] Indian Law - Preliminary Injunction. After several tribal members brought suit in tribal court against companies that operate oil wells on tribal land, claiming they are entitled to royalties for flared natural gas, the tribal court denied a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction filed by the non-member defendants. The oil and gas companies then filed suit in federal court against the tribal court plaintiffs, the tribal court judge and tribal court clerk of court. The district court granted the oil and gas companies' motion for preliminary injunction. The tribal court officials and tribal members appeal, arguing the suit is barred by tribal sovereign immunity. Because the Ex parte Young doctrine squarely applies and the tribal judge and court clerk have supervisory and administrative duties related to the case, the case is not barred by tribal sovereign immunity. The district court did not abuse its discretion in granting preliminary injunction because the oil and gas companies are likely to prevail on the merits; the oil and gas companies sufficiently exhausted their tribal court remedies; the tribal court lacked jurisdiction over the oil and gas companies because, as to non-members, tribal courts are not courts of general jurisdiction and oil and gas leases on allotted trust lands are governed by federal law, not tribal law, and neither exception to rule that tribes may not regulate activities of non-members applies. The tribal court also lacked jurisdiction because the subject of the dispute was outside its legislative jurisdiction.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.