Case Title: MATTER OF RULES ON DISQUALIFICATION

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: montana

Court: Montana Supreme Court

Date: 1987-07-29T00:00:00Z

Document:
q v r- i r - nmv7 . ~ h r i.~i.; ; & , _ r , OP THE RULES 3P< m v v y VtTm**#y7> T.p-,v- -,7p.S- 7.*, i 1 1 - ,-aid, i i , , . LLA'l i d 3 : 4 1ii;J~ ~ ? J B S T I ; C C T l ' ~ ~ ~ Q" JTJDGES Bg order dated June? 17, 1987, +chis C o u r t a d o p t e d 3 e t . j rU L-s I Fi on the disquaLification a r ~ d substitt~cior, of judges to become effective September ! I j.987, w i t h a corm.entperiod to be in effect until December 1, 1987, After further review of t h e adopted rules, we Ceem it necessary to make certain cltrifying amendments, The Fnnorable Robert p4- t.:ol."-er, President of the bfontar~a Judges kssockation, petitioned this Court to r e v i s e our rules on the disqualification and substitution of judges. Pursuant to the power placed in this Court by Article VZI, Section 2, of the I972 Mcntara Constitution, this C o u r t adopts the followi~g rule effective as ofSeptember 1, 1487, with a c n r ? n e : l i period to be in effect ~ ~ r t i l December 1., 1987, IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the said order dated June - -9 i:, 1987, is hereby arne;.i?ed and by such amendment the full text of 'rho r u l e s on cJis~quaiificatcri and substiiruticr: o f juEges is hereby adopted an6 reads as fallows: ~ 3 - 1 - 8 g 3 . ~isquaiificatien of judges--all courts,] This section shall, i n its application, apply to ail courts. m-;i justice, judge, or justice of he peace must r o t sit rr . , act in any actioc or proceeSinq: I I To w h i c h he is a party, or i n which he is i ^ ,,terested; 2. When he is rela.ted to either party by consanguinity or affinity within the sixth degre computed according to the rules of Law; CLERK OF d$lPRWE t B 6 3 1 8 m STATE OF WONTAHA . . 3 , Wher k-e has been, attorney or c c u n s e ~ in the action or proceeding fcr ar;- party or when he rendered or made t h e judymert, order or 6~ ;CISLG~ ' ' appealed from. (3-1-804, Substitution of district judges.] CUBSTITUT~ON DISTRICT JUDGES u This section i s Pimite? in its application to district courts and judges presiding therein. I, A motion for substitution o f a district judge nay he nade by any party to a proceeding only i n the ~ a n ~ e r set f o r t herein* In a civil or criminal case, each adverse party, including the state, is entitled to one sul?stitutior o f a cis- trict judge. (a) A motion for substitution c f a Zistri-t judge shall be made by filing a written rnntfor with the clerk, as follows: The undersigned hereby moves far substitution of District Judge in t h i s cause. A copy of the notion shall be served upc- all parties to the proceeding and the clerk shall ' - immediately notify the judge. After a t l m e i y motion has been filed, the substituted judge shall have ne power to act on the merits of the cause and - shall call in another judge. However, a resiaent district judge who has previously been substituted from the case may agree to set the ca.lendar, draw a jury, condiuct a l l routine matters including ar- raignments, omnibus hearings in criminal casesi preliminary pretrial conferences and other oatters which dc not go to the merits of t h e case, if the sitting jurge authorizes the same, (b) The first district judge who has been substit~ited or 2isqualified for cause shall h a v e the d u t y of calling in all subsequent district judges. It shail be the duty of the clerk of court to stamp the name of the ;udge to which the case is assigned on the face of the initial ?leading, ccmplaint, crder to show cause, or i n f o r m a t h e and ail copies thereof. i c i When a j d g e is assigned to a cause f o r twenty (20) consec~~tk-:e days after s e r v i c e o f sursSons, or ter; (10) days after service of an order to show cause, infornation or other initiating docuaent, and no motion for substitution of judge bas been filed within said time period, the riqht to move for s u b s t i t u t i o n of a judge shall be Seemed . . wa~ve2. ~f the presiding judge remcves nrmself, "_e erin?ii: r ; o mc1-e for substitution of a judge is reinstated, unless having been previous* - used, and the rime r ; r r i & s shall run anew. $.Eter the t i i c e period shali have run as to the original parties to ? : h e proceeding, no party who i s 30in~iS or i~ter- venes thereafter shall have any rLght 0 : substitution, i d ) The motion for substiteiti.on shall nct be + . effective for any purpose u n l e s s a rliing fee is . - D3' ...,c to c l e r k sf the ciistrict court i i l the - - 1 - 3 amount set by law, f i l i n g fee i s v ; a i x ? e i . c i in criminal cases .&here the defendant has received a court-appointed counsel or in civil cases where there has been an affilzvit and order waiving filing fees, (e) &y motion for substitution which not timely filed is void for all purposes. The judge having jurisdiction shall, make an order decl,a~ri,n~ the motion void, if) :i)len E; new ?.iiSge has accepted jurisdic- tion, the clerk of court shall mail a copy o " h e , assumptiun of iurisdiction to the original judge . an6 t o each attorney or party of record. The certiftcate of service shali be attached to the assumption of jurisdictien form in the cocrt file. ( g ) When a new trial is or(iere6 in any case, whether by order of the district court or the supreme court, each adverse party shall be entitled to cre aclditie~al motion for strbstituirion o f judge in the manner provided herein. Such metier must be filed, with the required filing fee, w i t h i n twenty (2C) days after a new trial has been ordered by the district court or after the remittitur has been filed with the district c o c r t clerk* No right o f further substitution shall arise in ceses remanded by the supreme court which call far additional hearicgs, but not a new trial. This section i s limited in its application to iudaes - , presiding in Eistrict courts, justice of the peace courts, m.unicipal courts and small claims courts. 1 Whene7;er a parpl to afiy proceeding in zny court shall file an affidavit alleging facts show- ing personal bias or prejiidice of "_he presiding judge, such judge shall proceed no further in the cause, If the affidavit is filed against a district judge, the matter shall be referred to the - , M~r,"_ara Supreme Court, wfieteu~on She Chief L : ~ ~ t i , ~ e . . - i l l s " r < c t judae to tear the m a t t e r , sr~zi? assign a I . " the aifilavit is file6 against a judge of a ~ ' - . m u n l c l p a l or justice court, any d~strkct judge may appoint another justice of the peace, or municipal judge, to hear any such proceeding. (a) The affidavit for disqualification nust be filed more th~zn thirty (31-1 Says befare tke date set far hearing or trial* The p a r t : ? i t the + f f i ~ . ~ ~ i t for dkp.; ,- , ~ a , i , ~ , a r : c n r i 6 i . shall pay a filing i t -ee as set by law. Failure to pay such filing Fee at the time of filing the affidavit will render the a f f i d a v i t null a . void a n ineffective fez any purpose, The Siring fee is waived in criminal cases where the defendant has received court-appointed counsel, or in cj:ril cases where there has been an affidavit and order waiving the -. , rll~ag fees. -,-. - (b) The aerzaavit shall be accornpacied by a ce-,-i , , _ , , L c L e F ; - - c of counsel of record that the affi.da-rit has heen made in good faith. An affidavit will be deemed not to have been made in good faith if it i s based solely on rulings i,n the case made by the challenged judge ane. from which an appeal could hqir LiG.e been taken. (c) Any affidavit which is not in proper farm an2 which does rot allege facts showing; personal bias or prejudice nay be set aside as void, id) The judge appointed to preside at a disqualification proceeding zay assess attorneys fees, costs and 8~amaiges aqainst any pqrty or his attorney who f i l e s s~j.ch disqlraLification . without reasonable cause and thereby hinders, delays or takes unconscionabLe advantage of any other party, or the court. ORDER ;:SUPERSEDES SECTTCI~~ 3-1-801 and 8 6 2 , MCA: By the authority o f Article V I L , Section 2, of the 1972 Eontsna ~onstitution, this rule sunersedes anE i s to be ssed to the exclusion o f the rude or disqualification and substi- tution of judges adopted b ; = Suprene Court Order date2 Jure 29, SS81* arid published as sectior ?-?-SO1 an6 802, ~ C A , EFFECTIVE GATE : . - This rule snail take effect oc September 1, 1987, C@@IEN'_' 2Ep.IOD : T h e ptontana Supreme Court invites comnerts by attOcrneys, judges, and other interested parties to be submitted to the C l e r k of this Court by December 1, 1987, Foilowing the receipt such ccmqe--,s, this Cclurr will consider the same and make such changes as it f i n & to be appropriate, x 7 . - - * -, L"tuT~L*s : clerk ef "_his C o u r t is directed to r.aii copies of these rules to the following: The Code Cc~~~issianer of the State of Montana; District Conrt Ju$ges of t h e State of Montana; Clerks of the District Courts 05 the State of Montana; cr_itez States District Court Judqes of tho State OE Msrrtana; Cl.erks of the i'nited States District Coilrts of the State ~fldzostana; president and Executive Director of the State 9ar of Montana; president a n s Executive 3irecter of the Montana T r i a l Lawyers Association; West ?ubLishing Company, w i t h a request that it be publiskee in the - Pacific State Reporter, w i t h a request that it he published in 4-L , , , e Reporter. . . ? : > ?k.. GAT113 this I:,>. - - d y of Jul;-, 1987,