Butte-Silver Bow Local Government v. State

This case involves a petition for assumption of original jurisdiction filed pursuant to Rule 17, M.R.App.P. Petitioners seek a declaratory judgment declaring the Montana Resource Indemnity Trust Act (1973), (the Act), unconstitutional, insofar as it authorizes the expenditure of Resource Indemnity Trust (Trust) funds for purposes other than the reclamation of lands disturbed by the taking of natural resources. Petitioners also challenge the constitutionality of respondents’ acts in appropriating and expending Trust funds for purposes other than reclamation of lands and contend such acts are a…