No, 12738 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

THE STATE OF MONTANA, ex rel. 

HAROLD D. HENDRICKSON, 

Petitioner and Relator, 

GALLATIN COUNTY, a political 

subdivision of the State of Montma; 

and BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF 

GALLATIN COUNTY, et al., 

Defendants and Respondents. 

Appeal from: District Court of the Thirteenth Judicial District, 

Honorable Robert He Wilson, Judge presiding. 

Counsel of Record : 

For Petitioner: 

Crowley , Kilbourne , Haughey , Hanson and Gallagher, 

Billings, Montana 

Robert Edd Lee argued, Billings, Montana 

For Respondents: 

c L> rl~~ ' A fl+' 

Olsen d&i, Bozeman, Montana 

Thomas Gai, ~e~ut~ couny Attorney, argued, Bozeman, 

Montana 

Thomas Mahan, Special Assistant Attorney General, 

Helena, Montana 

Submitted: June 17, 1974 
Mr. Justice Gene B. Daly delivered the Opinion of the Court. 

This is an appeal by Gallatin County from a denial by 

the district court of its motion for a change of venue and an 

application for a writ of review by Harold D. Hendrickson from 

a decision by the Board of Social and Rehabilitation Appeals 

affirming an order denying appellant state general assistance 

medical aid and hospitalization for August, 1972. By an order 

from this Court dated May 4, 1974, both matters were consolidated. 

Both parties requested this Court to decide on the merits of this 

case without prior district court review. Because this is an 

action in equity, because both parties stipulated that there are 

no facts in dispute and because of the extreme circumstances of 

necessity in this case, this Court has agreed to hear this appeal 

directly from the appeal before the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. 

The facts of the case show that Harold D. Hendrickson was 

a truckdriver. He owned his own truck and leased it to G. D. 

Eastlick Inc., a grain shipper. On July 15, 1972, Hendrickson was 

injured in a single truck accident near Malta, Montana. At the 

time of the accident Hendrickson was residing in Billings with his 

wife and four children. Hendrickson had previously lived in Gallatin County but had moved from Gallatin County to Yellowstone County 

approximately seven months prior to the time of his accident. From 

July 15, 1972 to November 1, 1972, Hendrickson was confined to 

St. Vincent's Hospital and not able to be moved because of the extent of his injuries. On November 1, 1972, Hendrickson was transported to the Veteran's Administration Hospital at Miles City. 

On August 1, 1972, Winifred Hendrickson, the wife of Harold 

Hendrickson, applied for public assistance on behalf of the appellant to the Yellowstone County Department of Public Welfare in 

Billings. Yellowstone County Welfare Department determined that 
Hendrickson was eligible for medical assistance pursuant to 

section 71-1516, R.C.M. 1947, which administers a federally 

subsidized program valid for thirty days hospitalization. Aid 

to Hendrickson's family was approved in the form of family 

assistance in the sum of $187 per month. Upon the termination of 

benefits under the federally subsidized medical assistance program 

it was det~rmined by the Yellowstone County Welfare Board that 

Gallatin County was the responsible county for state general 

assistance medical aid and hospitalization for persons unable to 

provide such necessities for themselves pursuant to section 71-308, 

R.C.M. 1947, because Hendrickson had undertaken residence in Yellowstone County less than one year before his disability ensued. 

On September 21, 1972, Gallatin County, by its county 

welfare board, denied state general assistance medical aid and 

hospitalization for Hendrickson. On October 3, 1972, a second 

application for such assistance was filed on behalf of Hendrickson 

and it too was denied. Appellant made application for a statutory 

fair hearing, which fair hearing was held February 14, 1973. The 

decision of the hearing officer was entered on February 20, 1973, 

granting Hendrickson general assistance medical aid and hospitalization for the month of September 1972, and the first fifteen days 

of October 1972; denying Hendrickson general assistance medical 

aid and hospitalization for the month of August 1972, on the 

ground that Hendrickson received during that month a $789 insurance 

settlement for the property damage to his truck's trailer caused 

by the accident, and that compensation should be considered income, 

and therefore, Hendrickson exceeded the state welfare income eligibility standards during that month; and holding that St. Patrick 

Hosp. v. Powell Co., 156 Mont. 153, 477 P.2d 34, was not precedent 

setting and therefore does not apply to the end ricks on claim. 

Hendrickson then appealed the decision of the hearing officer 
denying him general assistance medical aid and hospitalization 

for the month of August to the Board of Social and Rehabilitation 

Appeals for the State of Montana on April 4, 1973. Gallatin 

County did not appear. On April 5, 1973, the Board denied 

Hendrickson relief and affirmed the hearing officer. 

On May 4, 1973, Hendrickson petitioned for review in the 

district court for the thirteenth judicial district of the State 

of Montana, in and for the County of Yellowstone. Gallatin County 

moved for a change of venue on May 21, 1973, which motion was denied 

by the district court on February 13, 1974. On March 8, 1974, 

Gallatin County filed a notice of appeal to this Court from the 

order below denying change of venue. That appeal, docketed as 

Cause No. 12721, was consolidated with the medical assistance question pursuant to the order of this Court dated May 4, 1973. 

This Court is therefore asked to review the questions of 

venue and the denial by the hearing examiner of general assistance 

medical aid and hospitalization for the month of August, 1972, which 

amounted to a total of approximately $6,183.10. 

The Montana Administrative Procedure Act, which is set 

out in section 82-4216, R.C.M. 1947, provides for judicial review 

of contested cases and section 82-4216(2) reads: 

"Proceedings for review shall be instituted by 

filing a petition in district court within 

thirty (30) days after service of the final 

decision of the agency, or if a rehearing is 

requested, within thirty (30) days after the 

decision thereon. ~xcept as otherwise provided 

by statute, the petition shall be filed in the 

district court for the county where the petitioner resides or has his principal place of business, 

or where the agency maintains its principal 

office. * * *" (Emphasis added.) 

Gallatin County contends that section 93-2903, R.C.M. 

1947, provides that all actions against a county must be commenced 

and tried in such county. The statute reads: 

"An action against a county may be commenced and 

tried in such county, unless such action is brought 
by a county, in which case it may be commenced 

and tried in any county not a party thereto." 

The county cites Good Roads Machinery Co. v. Broadwater Co., 

94 Mont. 68, 20 P.2d 834, in support of his argument. The 

county contends that since section 82-4216(2) states that 

"Except as otherwise provided by statute", the county in which 

the petitioner resides shall be the proper county to file the 

appeal and since section 93-2903, R.C.M. 1947, does not provide 

that all actions against a county must be brought in that county, 

appellant's appeal must be brought in Gallatin County. With that 

argument, this Court cannot agree. Good Roads Machinery Co. is 

not in point with the facts in this case, since it involved litigation originating in the district court against the county. This 

case before us now is an action brought to review the administrative proceedings before the Board of Social and Rehabilitation 

Appeals; it is not an action brought against the county and does 

not come within the purview of section 93-2903, R.C.M. 1947. Section 82-4216(2), R.C.M. 1947, is the statute which properly determines the venue in this case. Yellowstone County is the county 

in which Hendrickson may file his appeal. We therefore affirm the 

district court's denial of the motion for a change of venue. 

We next turn to the question of whether Hendrickson was 

properly denied medical and hospitalization financial aid for the 

month of August, 1972. We find that the decision of the Board of 

Social and Rehabilitation Appeals to affirm the findings of the 

hearing examiner is not supported by the evidence presented at the 

fair hearing. At the time of the accident, Hendrickson was the 

sole supporter for his family. His wife coincidently began work 

the very day of the accident and was bringing home about $110 to 

$120 every two weeks. There are four children in the family. 

Records show that before the accident the Hendricksons were barely 

making ends meet. There was no insurance to cover Hendrickson's 
hospitalization. The only property Hendrickson had was a trailer 

home in which they lived and in which they had an equity of $1,300. 

The insurance settlement for the loss of the truck amounted to 

$789. The $789 was used by Mrs. Hendrickson to cover everyday 

living expenses. There is no evidence that the Hendricksonts 

financial affairs will soon be any brighter. It becomes clearly 

obvious that although the Hendricksons might not be economically 

indigent, insofar as general assistance is concerned, however, 

they have no means to meet with this medical catastrophe that 

Hendrickson has suffered. This case, therefore, is controlled 

by our holding in St. Patrick Hosp. v. Powell Co., 156 Mont. 153, 

477 P.2d 34. In that case the injured party was a child. In 

the case before us the injured party is the family breadwinner 

which makes the fact situation more persuasive than that found in 

St. Patrick Hosp. We will restate our holding in that case so 

that there will be no misunderstanding of the law in Montana applicable to this class of cases: 

" * * * we do not understand the legislative 

intent to be that in order for a person to be 

an 'indigent persont within the meaning thereof 

to receive medical assistance there must be a 

total lack of resources. Rather, we believe 

the legislative intent was to include those 

persons who do not have the present or future 

hope of resources sufficient to pay for all the 

medical and hospital services required in 

emergency instances." 

We find that Harold Hendrickson falls within this class of persons. 

He is medically indigent. Therefore, we reverse the decision of 

the hearing examiner and order Gallatin County to pay for the medical bills incurred by Hendrickson. 

---- 

/ Justice 

We concur: 
M. && Sorte, District w udge, sitting in place of Mr. 

Chief Justice James T. Harrison.