Appellate Process Concerning Groundwater Decisions

Under current law, the decisions or actions of the ground water commission (commission) or the state engineer regarding groundwater are appealed to a district court, and the evidence that the district court may consider is not limited to the evidence that was presented to the commission or state engineer. Therefore, unlike appeals from other state agencies' decisions or actions under the 'State Administrative Procedure Act', a party appealing a decision or action of the commission or state engineer may present new evidence on appeal that was never considered by the commission or state engineer. The bill limits the evidence that a district court may consider, when reviewing a decision or action of the commission or state engineer on appeal, to the evidence presented to the commission or state engineer. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)