Norval Electric Coop v. Lawson

GRIGINAL 04/05/2022 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA Case Number: DA 21-0603 DA 21-0603 NORVAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE INC., FELEO APR 0 5 2022 Petitioner, Appellant, and Bowen Greulywoc..)d Court Cross-Appellee, Clerk of Supreme Stato of Montana v. ORDER SHALAINE LAWSON, Respondent, Appellee, and Cross-Appellant. Respondent, Appellee, and Cross-Appellant Shalaine Lawson, via counsel, has moved this Court for an order allowing her to supplement the record on appeal. She describes the supplementary materials as: (1) Transcripts for the attorney fee hearings held on July 7 and 29, 2021; and (2) two boxes of file materials that remain at the Valley County District Court. Lawson provided the July 7 and 29, 2021 hearing transcripts as exhibits to her motion to supplement. Petitioner, Appellant, and Cross-Appellee NorVal Electric Cooperative Inc. (NorVal) has responded regarding Lawson's proposed supplementation and asserts that it has no objection to the transcripts. This Court will therefore direct the Clerk to file these transcripts accordingly. NorVal also asserts that it cannot stipulate to supplementing the record with "two boxes of file materials" because it does not know what those boxes contain. NorVal offers, however, that if the boxes' contents are materials that were part of the contested case hearing before the Human Rights Bureau or the proceedings before the Human Rights Commission, these materials may properly be part of the record on appeal. According to Lawson's motion, the Valley County Clerk of Court received these two boxes from the Legal Secretary of the Montana Human Rights Bureau via a Transmittal, and the Clerk docketed these boxes as No. 91 on the District Court's Case Register. However, these materials were not uploaded into the District Court's electronic file, and on appeal to this Court, the Clerk transmitted only the electronic files and did not send any physical files to the Clerk of this Court. M. R. App. P. 8(1) provides in relevant part that "the original papers and exhibits filed in the district court, the transcript of proceedings, if any, and a certified copy of the docket entries prepared by the clerk of the district court shall constitute the record on appeal in all cases." The two boxes at issue here, docketed by the Valley County Clerk as No. 91 on the Case Register, are part of the record on appeal. Under M. R. App. P. 9(1)-(2), the Valley County Clerk has the duty to transmit the record to the Clerk of this Court within 40 days after the filing of the Notice of Appeal, and if the Valley County Clerk determines that the exhibits "are too large or weighty to be conveniently mailed," the Clerk "shall notify the parties in writing that the item or items will not be transmitted[.]" In this case, it appears the Clerk did not notify the parties that these boxes were not mailed, nor does it appear that these boxes are so extraordinarily large as to constitute exhibits that cannot be "conveniently mailed." Therefore it is appropriate to order the Clerk to transmit these materials to this Court as part of the record on appeal. THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that Lawson's Motion to Supplement is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Valley County Clerk of Court SHALL TRANSMIT to the Clerk of this Court the physical files which were not uploaded as part of the electronic record in this matter within 20 days of the date of this Order. The Clerk is directed to file the July 7 and 29, 2021 hearing transcripts Lawson provided. The Clerk is further directed to give notice of this Order to all counsel of record and to the Valley County Clerk of Court. Dated this day of April, 2022. ChiefJustice 2 Justices 3