Mickelson v. City of Rolla

1

2023 ND 128

Cameron Mickelson and Danielle Mickelson, Plaintiffs and Appellants v. City of Rolla, Defendant and Appellee

No. 20230009

Supreme Court of North Dakota

July 7, 2023

Appeal from the District Court of Rolette County, Northeast Judicial District, the Honorable Anthony S. Benson, Judge.

Rachael S. Mickelson Hendrickson, Rolla, N.D., for plaintiffs and appellants.

Howard D. Swanson, Grand Forks, N.D., for defendant and appellee.

OPINION

Tufte Justice

[¶1] Cameron and Danielle Mickelson appeal from a district court order granting summary judgment to the City of Rolla and the subsequently entered judgment. Their attorney, Rachael Mickelson Hendrickson, requested records from the City under the state's open records statute, N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18. The City argues that the district court properly granted summary judgment because, among other things, the Mickelsons failed to give the City notice under N.D.C.C § 44-04-21.2(3). We affirm.

I

[¶2] The standard of review for summary judgment is well established:

Summary judgment is a procedural device under N.D.R.Civ.P 56(c) for promptly resolving a controversy on the merits without a trial if there are no genuine issues of material fact or inferences that can reasonably be drawn from undisputed facts, or if the only issues to be resolved are questions of law. The party seeking summary judgment must demonstrate there are no genuine issues of material fact and the case is appropriate for judgment as a matter of law. In deciding whether the district court appropriately granted summary judgment, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the opposing party, giving that party the benefit of all favorable inferences which can reasonably be drawn from the record. A party opposing a motion for summary judgment cannot simply rely on the pleadings or on unsupported conclusory allegations. Rather, a party opposing a summary judgment motion must present competent admissible evidence by affidavit or other comparable means that raises an issue of material fact and must, if appropriate, draw the court's attention to relevant evidence in the record raising an issue of material fact. When reasonable persons can reach only one conclusion from the evidence, a question of fact may become a matter of law for the court to decide. A district court's decision on summary judgment is a question of law that we review de novo on the record.

Solberg v. McKennett, 2021 ND 44, ¶ 6, 956 N.W.2d 767 (quoting Aftem Lake Developments, Inc. v. Riverview Homeowners Ass'n, 2020 ND 26, ¶ 8, 938 N.W.2d 159).

[¶3] This Court has also explained its method for interpreting statutes:

Statutory interpretation is a question of law, which is fully reviewable on appeal. The primary purpose of statutory interpretation is to determine the intention of the legislation. Words in a statute are given their plain, ordinary, and commonly understood meaning, unless defined by statute or unless a contrary intention plainly appears. If the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, the letter of the statute is not to be disregarded under the pretext of pursuing its spirit. If the language of the statute is ambiguous, however, a court may resort to extrinsic aids to interpret the statute.

Johnson v. Menard, Inc., 2021 ND 19, ¶ 16, 955 N.W.2d 27 (citation omitted). Whether an appellant satisfied a statutory notice requirement is a question of statutory interpretation. Laufer v. Doe, 2020 ND 159, ¶¶ 15-20, 946 N.W.2d 707.

II

[¶4] The district court found that the Mickelsons did not establish that they complied with the notice requirement in N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.2(3). Hendrickson requested the documents from the City under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(2). If an entity violates section 44-04-18, "[a]n interested person or entity may not file a civil action under this section seeking attorney's fees or damages, or both until at least three working days after providing notice of the alleged violation to the chief administrative officer for the public entity." N.D.C.C. § 44-0421.2(3).

[¶5] The plain language of N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.2(3) has four requirements before a party may sue: (1) the person must provide notice, (2) of an alleged violation, (3) to the public entity's chief administrative officer, and (4) at least three working days must have passed since the first three elements were all satisfied. Both parties agree that Rolla's mayor is the chief administrative officer for the City.

[¶6] A document intended to provide notice under a statute or rule must clearly state the fact or allegation of which the document is giving notice. The only content required by N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.2(3) is that the notice provided must contain "notice of the alleged violation." Other similar statutory notice provisions provide greater specificity as to the required content. See N.D.C.C. § 32-12.2-04 (describing requirements for a notice of a claim against the state for an injury). Here we have only the ordinary meaning of this simple provision. The ordinary meaning of "violation" is a breach of the law. Black's Law Dictionary 1881 (11th ed. 2019). A violation is "alleged" when it is "[a]sserted to be true as described." Black's Law Dictionary 94 (11th ed. 2019). The term "notice" carries several different meanings depending on the context. Because this statute requires notice be provided to the public entity's chief administrative officer, we read the statute as referring to actual notice or express notice. Black's Law Dictionary 1277 (11th ed. 2019) ("actual notice. (18c) 1. Notice given directly to, or received personally by, a party. - Also termed express notice.").

[¶7] Considering the plain meaning of this language in the context of the open records statutes, we conclude that to "provide notice of the alleged violation," the notice must describe, paraphrase, or cite to the statutory requirement alleged to have been violated and generally describe the facts alleged to constitute the violation. A document does not comply with this notice statute simply because a party could infer the fact or allegation of which notice must be provided. Cf. ...