Archive | Substitution of district judge

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Fellows v. Saylor

Fellows v. Saylor, 2016 MT 45 (March 1, 2016) (Baker, J.) (5-0, aff’d)

Issue: (1) Whether the water right claims in controversy were properly determined under Fellows I, 2012 MT 169; and (2) whether the district court erred in granting Fellows’ motion for substitution.

Short Answer: (1) Yes, and (2) the appeal of this issue is untimely.

Affirmed

Facts: Fellows owns several water rights in Spring Creek near Choteau. His rights were decreed in Sands Cattle & Land Co. v. Jackson (Mont. 10th Jud. Dist. Ct. 1892). Fellows claims that Spring Creek and the Teton Rover are hydrologically connected, and that maintaining the flow in Spring Creek requires maintaining water in the Springhill Reach, a subsurface aquifer from the Teton River.…

Estate of Greene

Estate of Greene, 2013 MT 174 (July 2, 2013) (5-0) (McGrath, C.J.)

Issue: Whether the district court properly denied William Greene’s motion to substitute the district judge.

Short Answer: Yes. The substitution statute’s 30-day deadline does not apply to an informal probate, and is not triggered until a party petitions to covert the proceeding to a court-supervised administration.

Affirmed…