A. The duties, responsibilities and activities of the commissioner of public lands and lessees of state trust land and minerals set out in this section shall be performed in a timely manner.

B. Money erroneously paid on account of a lease or sale of state lands, which money is not carried in a suspense fund but has been distributed to the proper income or permanent fund, shall be repaid in the manner prescribed in this section.

C. If the money erroneously paid was for royalty due under a lease, then, subject to a subsequent audit by the commissioner of public lands or the commissioner's agent, the lessee may either request a refund or may recoup the money by deducting an equivalent amount from subsequent royalty payments due for the same lease and any other lease with the same trust beneficiary; provided that if the amount erroneously paid pursuant to this subsection is greater than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for a lease, no deduction from subsequent payments shall be made without the prior approval of the commissioner of public lands; and, provided further that, no initial claim for recoupment shall be made after six years from the date on which the initial royalty obligation became due.

D. If the amount of money erroneously paid is less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), then, after a claim for a refund has been filed pursuant to Section 19-7-60 NMSA 1978 and approved by the commissioner of public lands, no court action shall be necessary and a refund shall be made under Section 19-7-62 or 19-7-63 NMSA 1978.

E. All other money erroneously paid shall be refunded pursuant to the provisions of Sections 19-7-60 through 19-7-63 NMSA 1978.

History: Laws 1931, ch. 99, § 1; 1941 Comp., § 8-858; 1953 Comp., § 7-8-63; Laws 1979, ch. 234, § 1; 1989, ch. 11, § 1; 1994, ch. 102, § 1; 2007, ch. 61, § 1.

The 2007 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, added a new Subsection A to require the commissioner and lessees to perform acts in a timely manner; in Subsection C, required commissioner approval of deductions if an erroneous royalty payment under a lease is greater than $50,000; limited actions for recoupment of erroneous royalty payments to six years; and Subsection D, eliminated the necessity of court action to recover erroneous royalty payments of less than $10,000.

The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, inserted "and any other lease with the same trust beneficiary" and substituted "erroneously paid pursuant to this subsection" for "to be recouped under this paragraph" in Subsection B.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, deleted "to income fund" at the end of the catchline, designated the formerly undesignated provisions as Subsection A and made minor stylistic changes therein, and added Subsections B through D.

Error of fact essential. — To authorize a refund under this section, there must be an error of fact. Staplin v. Vesely, 1937-NMSC-073, 41 N.M. 543, 72 P.2d 7.

Allegation and proof. — "Erroneous" payment must be alleged and proved to authorize a recovery under this section. Staplin v. Vesely, 1937-NMSC-073, 41 N.M. 543, 72 P.2d 7.

Actual payment to commissioner required. — Since the claimant had not actually paid money to the commissioner, it did not have a valid claim for refund because a payment attributed to the commissioner's benefit does not meet the requirements of this act. The act is clear in requiring that an overpayment must be erroneously made to the commissioner or to funds administered by the commissioner. In addition, the plain meaning of "refunds" from a governmental entity is "money received by the government or its officers which, for any cause, are to be refunded or restored to the parties paying them." Anadarko Petroleum Corp. v. Baca, 1994-NMSC-019, 117 N.M. 167, 870 P.2d 129.

Money voluntarily paid with knowledge of facts cannot be recovered. Staplin v. Vesely, 1937-NMSC-073, 41 N.M. 543, 72 P.2d 7.

Advance payments. — Laws 1945, ch. 111 (19-10-3, former 19-10-10 NMSA 1978) does not provide for refund of moneys paid in advance and land commissioner could not make such a refund in any event without a court order. 1947 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 47-5056.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 73A C.J.S. Public Lands § 186.