Court Opinion

ID: 9955004
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-27 15:11:52.865894+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:15:12.245297
License: Public Domain

j ORIGINAL                                          03/26/2024

                                                                                          Case Number: DA 23-0314

          IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

                                        DA 23-0314                  FILED
                                                                     tvIAR 2 6 2024
                                                                   Bowen Greenwood
DEBRA V. SCHUTTER and SIDNEY J.                                  Clerk of Supreme Court
                                                                    State of Montana
SCHUTTER,

            Claimants and Appellants,
v.
                                                                    ORDER
STATE OF MONTANA BOARD OF LAND
COMMI SSIONERS,

            Objector and Appellee.

       Appellants Debra and Sidney Schutter move this Court to stay the appeal for the
purposes of remand to the Water Court for consideration of newly discovered evidence.
Appellee Board of Land Commissioners objects.
       Schutters claim that counsel recently discovered, while working on an unrelated case
before the Water Court, a change in then-Department of State Lands policy in the early to
mid-1990s related to the issue on appeal in this case, whether the State would claim an
ownership interest in water diverted on private land but used on State lands. They seek
remand to the Water Court to consider whether the Department's change in policy violated
Montana law requiring notice and rulemaking or approval by the Land Board. The
Department responds that there is no legal support for the relief sought, that the
Department's policy is not newly discovered evidence, and that the issue before this Court
depends on the law and facts considered by the Water Court. Schutters subsequently
submitted a notice that the Board has scheduled a briefing at its April 2024 meeting from the
Department of Natural Resources and Conservation on its policy regarding rights to water
used on State land.
       This appeal is fully briefed and under consideration by the Court. Having reviewed
the parties' submissions, we conclude that a stay for purposes of remand to the Water Court
is inappropriate.
       IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the motion to stay this appeal and remand to the
Water Court is DENIED.
       The Clerk is directed to provide notice of this Order to all counsel of record.
       DATED this 210 day of March, 2024.

                                                                Chief Justice

                                                                  Justices

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