Montana § 69-14-904 - Procedure In District Court

§ 69-14-904. Procedure In District Court

Procedure in district court. (1) The parties seeking the right, privilege, and easement aforesaid shall present to and file with the district court a petition in writing and under oath, specifying and describing the right, privilege, and easement sought, the time for which the same is sought, and the fact that the parties to the proceedings are unable to agree upon the amount of compensation therefor. (2) A copy of the application for such privilege shall be attached to said petition, and thereupon it shall be at once the duty of the court by its order in writing to fix a time not more than 30 days thereafter within which the person, firm, or corporation so owning, managing, or controlling such railroad shall appear and join issue in said proceeding. Such notice shall be served as a summons is served in civil actions and shall be ample notice to the parties so served to appear and join in the proceedings and shall be ample to give the court full jurisdiction over the party against whom the proceedings are instituted and the property involved in the proceeding. (3) The manner of joining issue and the procedure at the trial shall be the same as that in any other civil action at law. (4) The trial of such issue shall be expedited by the court as much as possible. At the trial the court or jury, as the case may be, shall find and assess the compensation, both in the form of an annual rental and in the form of a gross sum, for the right, privilege, and easement sought. Immediately after the finding or verdict has been made, the party against whom the proceedings have been taken shall elect whether to receive the annual rental or the gross sum found. In case such election is not made by said party, then the other party to the proceedings may make such election. After election is made as aforesaid, judgment shall be rendered adjudging, among other things, that upon payment of the gross sum found or the annual rental found, yearly in advance, as the case may be, the party instituting the proceedings shall be entitled to the right, privilege, and easement of erecting and maintaining the elevator or warehouse asked for in the application and petition aforesaid and for the time therein specified. Thereupon the party in whose favor said judgment is rendered shall be entitled to a writ of execution in proper form to immediately invest such party with the right, privilege, and easement aforesaid.