Montana district judge halts sheriff recall in Pondera County

A Pondera County district judge issued an order temporarily halting the effort to recall Pondera County Sheriff Carl Suta to examine the validity of a petition circulated since July. 

Suta challenged the petition's legal standing on Monday in a civil complaint filed in Pondera County District Court. Judge Bob Olson set a hearing for arguments for Dec. 11. The recall vote was scheduled for Dec. 19. 

Penny Oteri, a Conrad attorney representing the petitioner, Stacy Welker, told the Tribune Friday that she believes the recall petition stands firm against Suta's challenge. 

While Suta's challenge alleges several technical issues with the petition, Oteri says state law doesn't hold citizens to the same legal bar as attorneys. In fact, state law actually allows some wiggle room for "clerical and merely technical errors" in regards to the process of recalling public officers.

"It's a pretty generous act by the legislature to say 'We're not  holding the citizens to the same standard as an attorney,' because the citizens need a voice," Oteri said. "In my opinion, this petition is valid."

Welker began circulating the petition, approved by county election officials, in early July. The petition carries an accompanying statement of 12 reasons supporting the allegation of incompetence in office. In October, Welker collected 530 signatures, approximately 15 percent of the voting population, needed to put the issue to a ballot vote. 

Suta's request to the judge to void the petition alleges Welker's information on the accompanying statement was only obtained second-hand, that she exceeded the number of words allowed on the statement and that the allegations included in it don't add up to incompetence. 

Shari Lennon, representing Suta in the case, was not available for comment on Friday, but wrote in court documents that the allegations against the sheriff "are malicious in nature, which would be demonstrated by a hearing on the matter."

Since the beginning of the recall saga, Suta's camp has claimed Welker's petition was payback for Suta filing a complaint with a state police board about one of his deputies, who was fired as a result. Welker told the Tribune in August that, indeed, she did date that deputy in the past, but added that was 10 years ago and wasn't the primary motivator for the recall. The deputy's firing, she said, was simply the straw that broke the camel's back. 

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Oteri said she's been reviewing Supreme Court cases related to recall petitions, and is already building up a confident case before the December hearing.

Even if the recall effort is defeated in court, Oteri said she believes the voters have spoken about what they think of Suta's acumen in office.

"To have as many signatures she has on that petition, it speaks volumes," she said. "It kind of took the temperature of the community around here."