Some Bureaucrats Try To Drive Up Your Costs, Even When They Lose

5/ “SOME BUREAUCRATS”:  If you doubt that some local bureaucrats can be tough on property owners who successfully challenge their abuse of their regulatory powers, consider the case of the Rochester golf course.

After the Supreme Court ordered the case to be returned to the local court for restoration on the jury’s verdict of $170,000 for the DeCooks,  the DeCooks sought their attorney’s fees for three appeals:  the 2007 appeal to the Court of Appeals which overturned the trial court’s dismissal of the DeCooks' initial claim which then required a jury trial; the DeCooks’ 2010 appeal to the Court of Appeals which overturned the trial court’s rejection of the jury’s award of $170,000 to the DeCooks; and their 2007 defense of that decision from the bureaucrats’ appeal to the Supreme Court.

Here, the Supreme Court ordered the airport board to pay $70,000 to the DeCooks for their attorney costs for the 2011 appeal.


READ THE FULL CASE DECISION: 

 Leon S. DeCook, et al., Respondents, vs. Rochester International Airport Joint Zoning Board

March 28, 2012                   2012-026      

https://mn.gov/law-library-stat/archive/supct/1203/ORA090969-0322.pdf