Cite as 2014 Ark. App. 227
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION II
CV-13-519
No.
Opinion Delivered April 9, 2014
SEECO, INC; JOYCE WALLS,
INDIVIDUALLY; AND JACK AND
JOYCE WALLS AS TRUSTEES OF APPEAL FROM THE WHITE
THE JACK G. WALLS AND JOYCE J. COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
WALLS REVOCABLE TRUST [NO. CV-2009-679]
APPELLANTS
V.
CARVER L. HOLDEN;
CHESAPEAKE OPERATING, INC.;
CHESAPEAKE EXPLORATION
LIMITED PARTNERSHIP;
CHESAPEAKE EXPLORATION, LLC;
CHESAPEAKE INVESTMENTS, an
Oklahoma Limited Partnership; BP
AMERICA PRODUCTION
COMPANY; BHP BILLITON HONORABLE TOM HUGHES,
PETROLEUM (FAYETTEVILLE), JUDGE
LLC; AND RIVERBEND
EXPLORATION AND
PRODUCTION, LLC
APPELLEES DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE
RHONDA K. WOOD, Judge
SEECO, Inc., Joyce Walls individually, and Joyce and Jack Walls, as trustees of a
family trust, appeal from an order establishing Carver L. Holden as owner of certain
mineral rights. Because the order is not final, we lack jurisdiction to hear the appeal. We
therefore dismiss without prejudice.
Cite as 2014 Ark. App. 227
Joyce Walls sued Carver Holden and his assignee, Chesapeake (along with several
related entities), to quiet title to a one-half mineral interest in approximately ninety-five
acres of land in White County. SEECO intervened to protect its lease with Joyce Walls,
and the Walls family trust intervened as the transferee of Walls’s rights. By amended
complaints, Walls added Chesapeake’s purported assignees—BP America Production
Company, BHP Billiton (Fayetteville) Petroleum, LLC, and Riverbend Exploration and
Production, LLC—as defendants. All defendants filed answers. Additionally, Chesapeake
filed a cross claim against Holden to recover its costs of defense and a lease bonus it had
paid to Holden should the court determine that Walls owned half of the mineral interest.
The court ruled that Holden owned the mineral rights in full. The court further
found that Chesapeake had rights under the Holden lease and that Riverbend had rights
under an assignment from Chesapeake. The court’s order did not address whether
defendants BP America and BHP Billiton had any rights under the Holden lease, nor did
it adjudicate or otherwise dispose of Chesapeake’s cross-claim against Holden.
An appeal may be taken only from a final judgment or decree entered by the trial
court. Ark. R. App. P.–Civ. 2(a)(1) (2013). Absent a proper certificate, an order is not
final that adjudicates fewer than all of the claims in a lawsuit or the rights and liabilities of
fewer than all of the parties. Ark. R. Civ. P. 54(b)(2) (2013). Whether an order is final
and appealable is a jurisdictional question that may be raised by this court sua sponte. See
Lamont v. Healthcare Capital, Inc., 2013 Ark. App. 283.
In this case, the court’s order did not contain a certificate allowing an immediate
appeal pursuant to Ark. R. Civ. P. 54(b)(1) (2013). The order is not final because the
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Cite as 2014 Ark. App. 227
order did not address the rights and liabilities of BP America and BHP Billiton nor did it
resolve Chesapeake’s cross-claim against Holden. The presence of an unresolved cross-
claim deprives the appellate court of jurisdiction to hear the appeal, even when the cross-
claim appears to have been implicitly resolved by the outcome of the trial. See Bulsara v.
Watkins, 2010 Ark. 453; Ellis v. Agriliance, LLC, 2012 Ark. App. 549; Lamco Ltd. P’ship II
v. Pasta Concepts, Inc., 2012 Ark. App. 145. Given these circumstances, we must dismiss
the appeal.
Our dismissal is without prejudice to refile at a later date. LaRue v. Ground Zero
Constr., Inc., 2014 Ark. App. 93.
Dismissed without prejudice.
WYNNE and GRUBER, JJ., agree.
Perkins & Trotter, PLLC, by: R. Scott Morgan and Patrick Feilke; and Stephen C.
Gardner, for appellants.
Millar Jiles, LLP, by: G. Michael Millar and Lindsey K. Bell; and Lody & Arnold,
Attorneys at Law, P.A., by: Wesley G. Lody, for appellees.
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