RUSSELL PETROLEUM CO. v. WALKER et al.

RUSSELL PETROLEUM CO. v. WALKER et al.
1932 OK 677
15 P.2d 125
160 Okla. 156
Case Number: 24060
Decided: 10/11/1932
Supreme Court of Oklahoma

RUSSELL PETROLEUM CO.
v.
WALKER et al.

Syllabus

¶0 1. Constitutional Law--Oil and Gas--Authority of Legislature to Protect Natural Resources of State--Prevention of Waste and Protection of Rights of Other Owners.
Under the police power of the state, the Legislature may regulate and restrict the use and enjoyment of landowners of the natural resources of the state, such as oil and gas, so as to protect them from waste, and prevent the infringement of the rights of others. Such legislation does not infringe the constitutional inhibitions against taking of property without due process of law, denial of the equal protection of the laws, or taking property without just compensation.
2. Corporation Commission--Constitutional Provisions--Amendment and Repeal.
By the provisions of section 35, article 9, of the Constitution of Oklahoma, the Legislature was given the power to alter, amend, revise, or repeal sections from 18 to 34, inclusive, of article 9 of the Constitution, after the second Monday in January, 1909, there being but one limitation of that power, which is that no amendment made under that authority shall contravene the provisions of any part of the Constitution other than the sections last above referred to, or any such amendments thereof.
3. Same--Powers of Corporation Commission--Contitutionality of Statute Extending Jurisdiction.
Under the provision of article 9 of the Constitution, the Corporation Commission is vested with legislative, executive, and judicial power, and a legislative enactment pursuant to section 35, article 9, of the Constitution does not contravene the provisions of any part of the Constitution other than sections 18 to 34, inclusive, of article 9 thereof, merely because it extends the field over which the constitutional authority of the Corporation Commission to exercise legislative, executive, and judicial powers may operate.
4. Same--Oil and Gas--Rights of Appeal From Orders Affecting Proration of Oil and Gas.
An appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court from orders of the Corporation Commission affecting the proration of oil and gas under the provisions of House Bill No. 168, Session Laws 1915 (sections 7954 to 7963, inclusive, C. O. S. 1921; sections 11565 to 11574, inclusive, O. S. 1931).
5. Same--Jurisdiction of Corporation Commission Under Statute to Prohibit Waste of Oil and Gas.
The Corporation Commission of Oklahoma has jurisdiction, pursuant to the provisions of House Bill No. 168, Session Laws 1915 (sections 7954 to 7963, inclusive, C. O. S. 1921; sections 11565 to 11574, inclusive, O. S. 1931), to determine questions of fact involving the enforcement of the provisions of that legislative enactment and to impose penalties as therein provided.
6. Prohibition--Nature of Writ and When Invokable.
Prohibition is an extraordinary writ and cannot be resorted to when the ordinary and usual remedies provided by law are available. It will only issue where an inferior tribunal does not have jurisdiction or assumes to exercise judicial power not granted by law, or is attempting to make an unauthorized application of judicial force.
7. Same--Application for Writ Against Corporation Commission -- Presumption That Commission Will Act Within Its Jurisdiction.
In an application for a writ of prohibition to prohibit the State Corporation Commission from taking jurisdiction in a cause pending before it, where the complaint states facts sufficient to confer jurisdiction on the Commission, it will be presumed that the Commission will act within the jurisdiction conferred by law, even where the principal relief prayed for may be beyond its control.

Petition for writ of prohibition by the Russell Petroleum Company against Paul Walker et al., members of the State Corporation Commission, and E. G. Dahlgren. Writ denied.

Sid White, for petitioner.
Hayes, Richardson, Shartel, Gilliland & Jordan and E. S. Ratliff, for respondents.

ANDREWS, J.

¶1 This is a companion case to No. 24059, entitled Frank Russell, Individually, and Frank Russell, Trustee, v. Paul Walker, Roy Hughes, and C. C. Childers, members of and composing the Corporation Commission of the State of Oklahoma, and E. G. Dahlgren, this day decided. Russell v. Walker, 160 Okla. 145, 15 P.2d 114.

¶2 With the exception of the name of the petitioner, the facts, issues, and the rule of law are the same. The decision adopted in that case is adopted as the decision in this case.