Court Opinion

ID: 9812008
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 22:35:42.076027+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:50.313304
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE RICE,
concurring in part.
¶25 I concur with the Court’s resolution of all issues formally raised by Swapinski. Although Swapinski expresses disagreement with the District Court’s determination to grant fees, and with some of the court’s comments in that regard, his appellate arguments are focused on issues related to the calculation of those fees (“Appellantfs] appeal *144... is strictly centered on the scope and reasonableness of the attorney fees in question.”) That being said, I believe Swapinski’s observations about the merits of a fee award raise reasonable concerns. While Swapinski’s lawsuit regarding the statutory mechanism for resignation and appointment of a new county commissioner may have been based on an incorrect interpretation of the governing statute, he offered a viable argument that was worthy of review. I have certainly seen much worse. I disagree with the District Court’s statements that the matter was “a frivolous lawsuit,” that Swapinski’s disagreement with the appointment process was “a legislative issue” and that the lawsuit “wasn’t the avenue to do it.” Statutory interpretation is the duty of the courts, and Swapinski was entitled to litigate his concerns that the process had failed to follow the statute. That he lost the argument should not, by itself, justify a fee award.