Court Opinion

ID: 9709145
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 03:41:19.376163+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:46.381987
License: Public Domain

Billings, J.,
concurring. I agree with the result reached by the majority opinion, and I also concur that a petition for extraordinary relief is the only method for review of hearings in district court pursuant to 23 V.S.A. § 1205(a) since no appeal lies directly from such hearings. See State v. Muzzy, *431124 Vt. 222, 202 A.2d 267 (1964). The superior court jurisdiction rests on the provisions of 4 V.S.A. § 113. State v. Lyon, 129 Vt. 141, 274 A.2d 478 (1971). See also 4 V.S.A. § 2(b).
I disagree, however, with the statement in the majority opinion that V.R.C.P. 75(a) governs the procedural aspects here involved. The pertinent part of V.R.C.P. 75(a) is as follows:
Any action or failure or refusal to act by an agency of the state or a political subdivision thereof ....
A district court is not “an agency of the state”; nor is it a “political subdivision” of the state. In my view, the majority opinion has by judicial fiat amended the rule to include the review of district court proceedings. This is improper until the requirements of 12 V.S.A. § 1 have been met. In the case at bar, the procedure should properly rest on V.R.C.P. 81(d) and the common law.