What are Due Process Requirements?

In the United States it is a canon of law as ancient as Magna Charta (1215 AD) that no government may deprive a person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Thus, for example, when a mayor decides that an employee should be terminated for just cause, the employee must be informed of the reason for the threatened termination and accorded timely opportunity to rebut the basis for the termination and to appeal the termination decision to a higher authority. Failure to afford due process in discharging a municipal employee will almost certainly result in a wrongful termination cause of action against the city or town.

When a city council wants to change the zoning status of a neighborhood in order to accommodate a prospective business development, due process requirements include timely notice of the proposed zone change to the entire. In short, the governing powers of a Montana municipality are limited by law and by the United States and Montana Constitutions. It is therefore imperative that, before acting on any matter that may be beyond the jurisdiction of a city or town government, municipal officials seek the legal opinion of the city attorney. Montana Municipal Officials Handbook 32 neighborhood and the opportunity of the property owners to present objections to the proposed change before the decision is made by the council.

Failure by the council to faithfully observe due process requirements may well result in an unlawful taking action suit that will require lengthy and very expensive litigation to resolve. As suggested above, specific due process requirements will vary depending upon the kind of action being contemplated by municipal officials. It is therefore imperative that the city attorney be consulted prior to any final decision to ensure that the city or town government has firm legal footing.