A Helena ordinance makes it illegal to play “folf” (the term for Frisbee golf) at night. If you think I’m making this up, it’s Helena Municipal Code Title 5, Chapter 13. Why do weird laws like this exist and why aren’t they cleared off the books? Politicians and...

Most people have heard about “citizens arrest,” which basically lets a citizen, as opposed to a law enforcement officer, arrest people committing a crime until the police arrive. TV shows and movies about crime often portray citizens arrests – usually very...

Let’s say you are handed a lawsuit and summons by a process server. It’s a BS case filed by your crazy neighbor for something you clearly didn’t do. You can ignore the suit, right? Wrong. You most certainly cannot ignore it. Once you’ve been served with a lawsuit, the...

Many people have heard of “adverse possession.” This is a common legal rule where, if you use your neighbor’s land for five years or more, you can go to court and get a deed to the portion of your neighbor’s land that you have been using. What most people are...

There is a 50-square mile strip of Idaho in the Yellowstone National Park where, at least in theory, no one can be prosecuted. This is not made up. The reason starts with geography, goes to the Constitution, and ends with Congress failing to fix the problem. The...

You are enjoying a quiet breakfast and look out the window to find someone else’s cattle munching on your prized flowers. You can sue the owner of the cattle, right? It depends. Montana has “open range” laws that provide in most parts of the state a property owner...

 When I was a kid, my three-legged dog Jerry bit a neighbor. I remember the insurance adjuster – one of the few people I’d ever seen with a suit on in my town of 60 people – came out and started asking our neighbors if Jerry had ever bitten anyone else. Turns out the...

Let’s face it: going to court is far too expensive, time consuming, and adversarial. That has led to a revolution in the legal system: The increasing use of mediation and arbitration, which is a way to decide disputes without going to court. And it’s very popular....

Montana is unique, which is one of the reasons we love this place so much. Last month this column described something that only happens in Montana law but no other state: marriages when both people can be 10,000 miles apart for the ceremony. This month’s column is...

Long-distance romantic relationships can be hard. Let’s say you want to get married but the two of you are 10,000 miles apart. Montana law has solved this problem for you. And the solution our state came up with only exists in Montana. It’s called double-proxy...