Opinion ID: 890112
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Is Supervisory Control Appropriate?

Text: ¶16 By virtue of Article VII, Section 2(2) of the Montana Constitution, this Court has “general supervisory control over all other courts.” Stokes v. Montana Thirteenth Judicial District Court, 2011 MT 182, ¶ 5, 361 Mont. 279, 259 P.3d 754. Supervisory control is an extraordinary remedy, reserved for extraordinary circumstances. Stokes, ¶ 5. We consider the propriety of supervisory control on a case-by-case basis. Stokes, ¶ 5. ¶17 Rule 14(3) of the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure governs petitions for writs of supervisory control: 6 The supreme court has supervisory control over all other courts and may, on a case-by-case basis, supervise another court by way of a writ of supervisory control. Supervisory control is an extraordinary remedy and is sometimes justified when urgency or emergency factors exist making the normal appeal process inadequate, when the case involves purely legal questions, and when one or more of the following circumstances exist: (a) The other court is proceeding under a mistake of law and is causing a