Summary 2012 WY 89

Summary of Decision June 22, 2012


Chief Justice Kite delivered the opinion for the Court. Affirmed.

Case Name: VIC AND JANE GARBER; SANDRA LANGE, Trustee of the Sandra K. Lange Trust; FRED AND WENDY LARSON; FRED SMITH; MICHAEL AND NITA WERNER; ROSS AND BIFF GORMAN; DR. KIRBY KIRKLAND; and DAVE AND GLYNDA EDWARDS v. WAGONHOUND LAND & LIVESTOCK COMPANY, LLC; VENJOHN OIL, INC., and STEVEN M. VENJOHN

Docket Number: S 11 0006

URL: http://www.courts.state.wy.us/Opinions.aspx

Appeal from the District Court of Converse County, Honorable Keith G. Kautz, Judge

Representing Appellants:

Harriet M. Hageman and Kara Brighton of Hageman & Brighton, P.C., Cheyenne, Wyoming. Argument by Ms. Hageman.

Representing Appellee Wagonhound Land & Livestock Company, LLC:

Robert G. Berger and Mistee L. Godwin of Lonabaugh and Riggs, LLP, Sheridan, Wyoming. Argument by Ms. Godwin.

Representing Appellees VenJohn Oil, Inc. and Steven M. VenJohn:

No appearance.

Date of Decision: June 22, 2012

Facts: Wagonhound Land and Livestock Company, LLC (Wagonhound), VenJohn Oil, Inc., and Steven M. VenJohn (VenJohn) (collectively Applicants) filed a petition with the Wyoming State Board of Control (Board) seeking to change the place of use, point of diversion and means of conveyance for water appropriations attached to 174.8 acres. VenJohn owned the appropriations from the North Platte River and requested that the point of diversion and place of use of the rights be moved upstream to Wagonhound’s land. Vic and Jane Garber, et al. (Objectors), who were intervening water right holders, objected to the petition, and the Board held a contested case hearing. The Board granted the Applicants’ petition but reduced the transferred rights to 152.5 acres. The Objectors petitioned the district court for review of the Board’s decision, and that court affirmed. They then appealed.

Issues: The Objectors presented the following issues on appeal: 1)Whether the final decision of the Board of Control was supported by substantial evidence in the record. 2)Whether the final decision of the Board of Control was in violation of Wyo. Stat. § 41-3-104. 3)Whether the final decision of the Board of Control was in violation of Wyo. Stat. § 41-3-114.

The Applicants articulated a single issue: 1)Whether the decision of the Board of Control to grant in part and deny in part the Petition was supported by substantial evidence, and was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or contrary to law, in accordance with Wyo. Stat. § 16-3-114(c).

Holdings: The Court concluded that the Board’s decision was supported by substantial evidence and was consistent with the law. Affirmed.

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court

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