No. 12980 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

1975 

IN THE MATTER OF THE INTERPRETATION OF 

SENATE BILL NO 23, CHAPTER NO 491, 

Montana Session Laws of 1973. 

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF 

MISSOULA COUNTY, MONTANA, 

Appellant, 

J. G. "BUD" LAMOREAUX, JOHN V. MOON, 

and DENNIS WOOD, 

Respondents. 

Appeal from: District Court of the Fourth Judicial District, 

Honorable Jack L. Green, Judge presiding 

Counsel of Record: 

For Appellant : 

Hon. Robert L. Woodahl, Attorney General, Helena, 

Montana 

James Walsh, Assistant Attorney General, appeared, 

Helena, Montana 

Robert L. Deschamps 111, County Attorney, Missoula, 

Montana 

Harold V. Dye argued, Missoula, Montana 

For Respondents : 

Garlington, Lohn and Robinson, Missoula, Montana 

George D. Goodrich argued and Jack L. Green I1 argued, 

Missoula, Montana 

Dennis Wood, Fort Leonardwood, Missouri 

Submitted: September 9, 1975 

Decided : Oc; T - ! 1g75 
Mr. Justice Wesley Castles delivered the Opinion of the Court. 

This is an appeal from a declaratory judgment entered 

in an action brought in the fourth judicial district, Missoula 

County, Hon. Jack L. Green presiding. 

On March 13, 1973, Senate Bill No. 23 was enacted by 

the Forty-Third Legislative Assembly to be effective July 1, 

1973. Section 1 of that bill, which is now section 93-413, 

R.C.M. 1947, provides: 

"Salaries of justices of the peace. The board 

of county commissioners shall set salaries for 

justices of the peace by resolution, provided 

that : 

"(1) if the salary of the justice of the peace 

was determined on a fee basis for the years 1971 

and 1972, he shall receive a monthly salary of 

not less than one-eighteenth of the total fees, 

civil and criminal, collected by the justice or 

his predecessor in office during the two (2) 

years 1971 and 1972. 

"(2) if the salary of the justice of the peace 

was determined on a nonfee basis for the years 

1971 and 1972, the justice shall be paid not less 

than the highest salary earned by the justice or 

his predecessor for the years 1971 and 1972." 

On July 18, 1973, the Missoula county attorney commenced 

this action on behalf of the Missoula county commissioners seeking an interpretation of the last clause of subsection (2) of 

section 93-413 because of a dispute existing between the commissioners and the justices of the peace. The Missoula county justices were paid on a nonfee basis at a rate of $5,500 per annum 

in 1971 and 1972. They maintained that under section 93-413 they 

were entitled to a minimum salary equal to the combined 1971 and 

1972 rates $11,000. The county commissioners argued that the minimum salary should be the highest of 1971 or 1972 - $5,500. On 

December 18, 1974, District Judge Jack L. Green determined that 

the justices of the peace were entitled to the combined 1971 

and 1972 rates as their minimum annual salary beginning July 1, 
1973. The county commissioners appealed that judgment to this 

Court. 

On review we are presented with the problem of interpreting this clause of section 93-413(2), R.C.M. 1947: 

" * * * the justice shall be paid not less than 

the highest salary earned by the justice or his 

predecessor for the years 1971 - and 1972." 

(Emphasis added) 

Appellants argue that since the adjective "highest" is 

grammatically incorrect when used with the conjunction "and", this 

Court should substitute the comparative adjective "higher" and 

the disjunctive "or" or simply change the "and" to "or" and reverse the district court. They contend this is an example of a 

typographical error which the Court could easily correct by supplying the better English. 

Respondents urge that we take the statute as we find it 

and apply ordinary rules of grammar to interpret it. They also 

assert, partly in their brief and partly in oral argument before 

us, that the combined salary interpretation as found by the district court makes sense in view of the salaries earned by other 

county officials, the entire scheme of Senate Bill No. 23, and 

the intent of the 1972 Montana Constitution. 

Both parties and the district court recognize that the 

intention of the legislature controls when a statute is presented 

to a court for interpretation. This is a fundamental rule of 

statutory construction. See Section 93-401-16, R.C.M. 1947, and 

Dunphy v. Anaconda Co., 151 Mont. 76, 438 P.2d 660. We again 

use it today as the basis of our interpretation of section 93- 

413 (2) . 

We have been faced many times with inartfully drafted 

and confusing language such as that found in this statute. In 

such cases rather than attempting to glean meaning from an isolated clause or sentence, we have looked to the purpose of the 
whole. See Snidow v. State Board of Equalization, 93 Mont. 

19, 17 P.2d 68, 18 P.2d 804; In re Takahashi's Estate, 113 

Mont. 490, 129 P.2d 217; Bresnahan v. District Court, 127 

Mont. 310, 263 P.2d 968; Home Bldg. & Loan v. Bd. of Equalization, 141 Mont. 113, 375 P.2d 312; Nice v. State, 161 Mont. 

448, 507 P.2d 527. 

Section 93-413 was but the first section of Senate 

Bill No. 23 passed by the Forty-Third Legislature. A consideration of the title of the Act is a necessary first step in our 

search for the purpose and meaning of this statute. It reads: 

"AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE, THEIR COMPENSATION, 

QUALIFICATIONS, TERMS OF OFFICE, TRAINING AND 

DESIGNATION AS COUNTY OFFICERS; PROVIDING FOR 

THE COLLECTION OF FEES BY JUSTICES AND IMPROVEMENT OF THEIR FACILITIES; ABOLISHING FEES IN 

CRIMINAL ACTIONS; AND DELETING REFERENCES TO 

TOWNSHIPS; ALL TO COMPLY WITH ARTICLE VII, SECTIONS 5 AND 7 OF THE 1972 MONTANA CONSTITUTION 

* * *. (Emphasis supplied) 

The Article of the 1972 Montana Constitution which this 

bill sought to implement had attempted to improve and modernize 

the justice court system. Section 5 of Art. VII abolished restrictions placed on justice court jurisdiction in civil matters 

by the 1889 Montana Constitution and provided that justice courts 

function in dignified surroundings. Section 7 of this Article 

extended the term of office for justices of the peace to four 

years. Other aspects of the modernization--qualifications, training, and monthly compensation--were to be made by the Legislature. 

See Art. VII, Section 5 and 7, 1972 Montana Constitution. 

With this background a brief look to the other sections 

of Senate Bill No. 23 should help us to clarify the first section 

of that enactment. (section 93-413(2)) Section 2 of the bill 

provided for the setting of office hours for each justice by the 

county commissioners commensurate with salary received. They 

would be made regular county officials. 
Section concerned itself with the physical improvement 

of the justice courts directing that such office, courtroom, 

clerical assistance and supplies be provided so that the court 

could function properly in dignified surroundings. 

Section 4 modernized the structure of the justice court 

system by changing the former allocation of two justices per 

township to at least one per county, by specifying that justices 

of the peace were to be elected on a nonpartisan judicial ballot 

similar to the judges of the district court, and by providing 

for qualifications to be a justice of the peace as well as a 

training course for elected justices. 

The balance of the bill contained numerous "housekeeping1' 

revisions of the Code consistent with the elevation of justice 

courts to full county office status. 

It is less than logical to believe that the Forty-Third 

Legislature would have upgraded all aspects of the justice court 

system excepting salary. Indeed the legislature spoke first in 

the bill to the salary issue. We must assume, based on the Constitution and the other sections of the bill, that the legislature 

intended to improve salaries also. Application of the ordinary 

rules of grammar to the statute section in question results in 

the raising of minimum salaries for nonfee justices of the peace 

to a decent level comparable to that received by other county 

elected officials. This interpretation insures the significant 

improvement of the justice court system as contemplated by the 

1972 Montana Constitution and Senate Bill No. 23. Therefore, 

the judgment of the district court is affirmed. 

We concur: A 

Chief Justice 

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Justices