State seeks to dismiss Lake County’s lawsuit

The State of Montana, represented by Crowley Fleck PLLP, responded Dec. 12 to Lake County’s lawsuit seeking reimbursement for costs incurred from Public Law 280 by seeking dismissal of the complaint.

In its 19-page motion, filed Monday in the 20th Judicial District Court, the State maintains that because Lake County consented to participation in the agreement in 1963, and as a result, agreed to its related costs, and because it now has the ability to withdraw from the agreement, articulated in House Bill 656 passed by the Legislature in 2021, the court should dismiss the complaint.

The same legislation says, “the state shall reimburse Lake County for assuming criminal jurisdiction annual to the extent funds are appropriated by the Legislature,” and appropriated $1 from the general fund.

In its appeal for dismissal, attorneys for the state argue that the county does not meet the narrow definition that might allow one government entity to sue another; that the county’s claim of an “unfunded mandate” is contradicted by the county’s consent to participate in Public Law 280 and its newfound ability to withdraw from the agreement.

The state also argues that the county failed to follow administrative procedures in place that allow local governments to challenge “administrative costs of a program, activity, or undertaking required by state law.”

The motion for dismissal maintains that state law places the responsibility for building and maintaining a detention center and providing for its inmates needs, on the county.

The motion also argues that the county’s complaint of “unjust enrichment” should be dismissed because state law prohibits the county from “seeking repayment of funds it consented to incurring.”

Finally, the motion argues that legal precedence prevents “litigants from adjudicating matters in the court that are more appropriately in the domain of the legislative branch.”