Barnes County v. Garrison Diversion Conservancy District

PEDERSON, Justice.

The ultimate question presented in this case involves the extent to which administrative decisions made by administrative agencies established for that purpose may be transferred through an appeal procedure to the judiciary. We conclude that the principle of separation of powers requires that statutes authorizing judicial review of administrative determinations be so construed that the judiciary’s role will be limited always to a review, judicial in scope, as defined by statute and case law, which avoids a substitution of the judgment of the judge for that of the…