(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Montana Supreme Court: Former Roosevelt County Attorney was not a resident – Daily Montanan [1] ['Darrell Ehrlick', 'More From Author', '- October'] Date: 2023-10-10 When Northern Plains Independent Publisher Darla Downs took on the Roosevelt County Attorney, alleging that he was not qualified to run for office there, it was a David-versus-Goliath situation. David won. Downs was a newspaper publisher and an accountant by background. Frank Piocos was running for election to an office which he had been appointed after the county attorney, Austin Knudsen, was elected as Montana’s Attorney General. Yet a careful reading of the law and her frustration at inaction led her to begin a challenge that not only required her to fight on behalf of the Roosevelt County residents, but would take her all the way to Helena – on her own – in the process. Downs challenged Piocos’ bid for re-election by pointing out that he was not a resident of Roosevelt County, rather, he had a residence in nearby Valley County and sometimes lived in Yellowstone County. The weekly newspaper couldn’t afford and couldn’t find an attorney willing to take the case – likely understandable in the small eastern Montana community where the legal community is even smaller. So Downs filed the court paperwork herself, and fought the case herself. In the end, Downs literally fought the law and won, as District Court Judge Katherine Bidegaray ruled that Downs’ plain reading of the law was correct: Even though Piocos had rented some space, it was office space that was rarely — if ever — used. Piocos had argued that renting space was enough to fulfill the law and that he was actively looking for housing there. Ultimately, the judge ruled that Piocos didn’t fill the residency requirements and therefore was barred from being the county attorney. After the ruling, Downs had thought her days as a publisher and quasi-lawyer were over. But, Piocos filed an appeal with the Montana Supreme Court, and in a five-judge unanimous decision, Downs once again emerged victorious. The state’s highest court, which is also the only appellate court, ruled that Piocos indeed had not been properly elected. The court focused on the plain meaning of what constitutes residency in a county, which includes a place where an individual is fixed and intends on returning. At times in the case, a definition of residency included a place where a person is registered to vote. However, the high court rejected that idea, saying essentially where a person comes home to after work — that fixed location — is key. Piocos was registered to vote in Roosevelt County, but never voted there, using his rented space as an address. “The key difference is that Piocos never made his dwelling, abode, or habitation in Roosevelt County,” said Chief Justice Mike McGrath, who wrote for the majority. He pointed out that Piocos never spent a night in Roosevelt County or put a down payment on a house there, therefore the court couldn’t even find that he had intent to remain there. “The district court had substantial, credible evidence to support a find that Piocos was not a resident of Roosevelt County,” the ruling concludes. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/10/10/montana-supreme-court-former-roosevelt-county-attorney-was-not-a-resident/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/