Opinion ID: 2547313
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Due Cause Standard

Text: ¶ 40 While we hold that water claimants may receive a retroactive extension of the objection period if due cause excuses a late filing, we have not previously had occasion to define the contours of the due cause standard imposed by section 73-4-10. Due cause, as used in other jurisdictions, is analogous to reasonable cause. See, e.g., Key v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 1996-NMSC-038, ¶ 47, 918 P.2d 350 (noting that the due cause test is one of objective reasonableness); In re Petition to Increase Millage Limit Levied on Real Estate from 25 Mills to 30 Mills, 166 Pa.Cmwlth. 161, 646 A.2d 61, 65 n. 5 (1994) (considering due cause to be interchangeable with reasonable cause); see also Black's Law Dictionary 515 (7th ed.1999) (defining due as just, proper, regular, and reasonable). While, generally speaking, showing reasonable cause is not an extremely difficult burden to meet, we hold that the due cause analysis undertaken pursuant to section 73-4-10 is necessarily constrained by the nature of the general adjudication process itself. As we noted earlier, [o]ne of the cardinal principles of statutory construction is that the courts will look to the reason, spirit, and sense of the legislation, as indicated by the entire context and subject matter of the statute dealing with the subject. Longley v. Leucadia Fin. Corp., 2000 UT 69, ¶ 19, 9 P.3d 762 (internal quotations omitted). ¶ 41 One of the key goals of the general adjudication process is to remove doubts about the validity of water rights. See Provo River Water Users' Ass'n v. Morgan, 857 P.2d 927, 935 (Utah 1993) ([T]he basic goal of general adjudication `is to record all water claims from a particular source which subsequent appropriators can rely upon before making their investments.' (quoting Robert W. Swenson, A Primer of Utah Water Law: Part II, 6 J. Energy L. & Pol'y 1, 29 (1985))); see also Utah Code Ann. § 73-4-11 (requiring the state engineer to administer water rights in accordance with the proposed determinationor previously decreed water rightsuntil a final decree is rendered by the court). Section 73-4-11 furthers the goal of certainty by reassuring water claimants that their rights are, in large part, immune from attacks by claimants that have allowed their ninety-day objection period to expire. We recognize, however, that the legislature saw fit to grant the district court the authority to extend that objection period if a party is able to show due cause justifying an extension, perhaps realizing that, at times, rigidity will unjustly deprive a party of an opportunity to have an objection heard. Cf. State ex rel. M.M., 2003 UT 54, ¶ 10, 82 P.3d 1104 (recognizing that there will arise circumstances when an inflexible application of the rule 4(a) deadlines would result in unconscionable injustices). That being said, the existence of the time limitation contained in section 73-4-11, coupled with the laudable goal of certainty, reveals that the legislature did not intend section 73-4-10 to provide an escape hatch for water claimants that simply neglect to pursue their claims. Rather, section 73-4-10 arms the district court with the authority to grant a retroactive extension to the objection period only when a water claimant can show due cause justifying the objection's untimeliness. In order to give effect to the time limitation of section 73-4-11 and to appropriately serve the goal of establishing certainty, the standard imposed by section 73-4-10 must be strict. ¶ 42 Rule 4(e) of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure, which allows district courts to retroactively extend the time for filing a notice of appeal, provides a close analogy. Under that rule, when faced with a request for a retroactive extension, a district court only explores a party's failure to file a timely notice of appeal, giving no regard to events occurring after the date the appeal was required to be filed, with attendant circumstances guiding the court when determining what degree of scrutiny to apply to the request. Reisbeck v. HCA Health Servs. of Utah, Inc., 2000 UT 48, ¶ 13, 2 P.3d 447 (stating that the appropriate level of scrutiny is dependent upon the nature of the justification offered to support the motion). ¶ 43 We conclude that applying the standard utilized in rule 4(e) to extension requests made pursuant to section 73-4-10 will provide a solid framework for district courts while simultaneously providing an appropriate mechanism to balance the interests of certainty and justice. Therefore, we hold that, in order to satisfy section 73-4-10's due cause standard, a claimant seeking a retroactive extension must show excusable neglect or good cause excusing the late filing. Excusable neglect occurs, in this context, when an admittedly neglectful delay in filing is excused by special circumstances. See Reisbeck, 2000 UT 48 at ¶ 13, 2 P.3d 447; see also Prowswood, Inc. v. Mountain Fuel Supply Co., 676 P.2d 952, 959 (Utah 1984), overruled on other grounds as stated in State v. Johnson, 700 P.2d 1125, 1129 n. 1 (Utah 1985) (noting the excusable neglect standard is strict and not meant to cover the typical excuse that a lawyer was simply too busy to comply with the filing deadline). Good cause occurs when special circumstances essentially beyond a party's control excuse the late filing and justify suspending a strict application of a filing deadline. Reisbeck, 2000 UT 48 at ¶ 13, 2 P.3d 447. Further, given the context in which retroactive extension requests pursuant to section 73-4-10 will arise, a reviewing court should confine its review to evidence explaining why the claimant failed to file an objection within the ninety-day objection period. Evidence of events occurring after the conclusion of the ninety-day objection period is irrelevant to a section 73-4-10 due cause analysis. ¶ 44 The standard outlined above pays appropriate deference both to the language of section 73-4-10, which grants the district court some discretion to extend the objection time period, as well as to the nature of the general adjudication process itself, which requires strict deadlines to promote certainty. Because the district court's resolution below made a due cause analysis unnecessary, a remand is required in order to determine if GRCC can show due cause excusing its late filing.