Judge denies Writ on citizens' petitions

MISSOULA – Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Robert L. (Dusty) Deschamps, III denied a Writ of Mandamus that would have forced the Missoula County Elections Administrator (EA) to approve two citizens’ initiative petitions for collection of signatures.

Attorney Colleen Dowdall filed the petition for the Writ in January of 2020 on behalf of a pair of landowners in the Seeley Lake Sewer District, Don Larson and Tom Morris.

The two citizens’ initiative petitions in question were filed with the EA in 2019 with one filed by SLSD resident Franny Trexler and the other filed by Dowdall. Dowdall also...