Gregory Semack v. Roscommon Cnty., Mich.

── Gregory Semack v. Roscommon Cnty., Mich. ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Date: April 07, 2026 Category: General NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 26a0158n.06 No. 25-1571 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Apr 07, 2026 GREGORY SEMACK; BRUCE CARLETON; and ) KELLY L. STEPHENS, Clerk ) CHARLES WAYNE BROOKS, ) Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) ON APPEAL FROM THE ) v. UNITED STATES DISTRICT ) COURT FOR THE EASTERN ) ROSCOMMON COUNTY, MICHIGAN and ) DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN CHASE SCHEPKE, as Drain Commissioner, sued in ) his official and personal capacities, OPINION ) Defendants-Appellees. ) ) Before: BOGGS, NALBANDIAN, and MATHIS, Circuit Judges. BOGGS, Circuit Judge. This case involves a dispute between Roscommon County, Michigan and property owners whose land abuts Higgins Lake, an inland lake in Roscommon County. Under Part 307 of the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, Roscommon County is required to maintain judicially established lake levels in the county. Following the Michigan legislature’s passage of Public Act 112 in 2024, which modified Part 307, plaintiff landowners sued the county and the county drain commissioner, alleging that the amendments to Part 307 deprived them of due process and their right to the judicially established lake level. The district court dismissed the case for lack of standing under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). For the reasons below, we affirm the judgment of the district court. No. 25-1571, Semack, et al. v. Roscommon Cnty., Mich., et al. BACKGROUND Part 307 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (“NREPA”) provides a process for establishing the “Normal Level” of an inland lake. Mich. Comp. Laws §§ 324.30701– 07. The process for setting the Normal Level can be initiated by either the county board or a petition to the county board by two-thirds of the owners of land abutting the lake. Id. § 324.30702(1). The determination is made by a state court, which sets a hearing. Id. § 324.30707(1). Notice is required; an attorney for the county is required to publish notice in at least one newspaper in the county for three successive weeks before the date of the hearing. Ibid. In addition, the county’s drain commissioner must serve notice of the hearing by first-class mail at least three weeks before the date of the hearing to each person whose name appears in the latest tax-assessment roll as owning land within a proposed “special assessment district.” Id. § 324.30707(2). Part 307 originally defined Normal Level as: the level or levels of the water of an inland lake that provide the most benefit to the public; that best protect the public health, safety, and welfare; that best preserve the natural resources of the state; and that best preserve and protect the value of property around the lake. A normal level shall be measured and described as an elevation based on national geodetic vertical datum. Citizens for Higgins Lake Legal Levels v. Roscommon Cnty. Bd. of Comm’rs, 988 N.W.2d 841, 8