I3. Appoint Municipal Judge and Administer Oath of OfficeCITY OF
KALISPELL
City of Kalispell
201 1st Ave E. P.O. Box 1997
Kalispell, Montana 59903-1997
(406) 758-7000 Fax (406)7757
REPORT TO: Mayor Johnson and Kalispell City Council
FROM: Doug Russell, City Manager
SUBJECT: Appointment and Oath of Office for Municipal Court Judge
MEETING DATE: November 7, 2022
BACKGROUND: The position of Kalispell Municipal Judge has been vacant since October
4. According to Montana Code Annotated, 7-4-4112, the Council is charged with appointing a
replacement to the position until a successor is elected at the next general election in November
of 2023. That election will be for a two-year period in accordance with the remainder of the
existing term.
The City Council appointed a committee at the October 3rd meeting to make a recommendation
to the entire Council for an appointment to serve until the next general election in November
2023. After advertising for the opening, the committee met and is recommending former
Kalispell Adjutant Attorney, Rich Hickel to fill this position until the next general election in
November 2023, based on his years of experience working in the attorney's office and with
Municipal Court.
FISCAL IMPACTS: The current wage for the Municipal Court Judge, as established by
resolution, is $100,800.99.
RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the Council Appoint and the Mayor
administer the Oath of Office to Rich Hickel for the position of Municipal Court Judge.
Richard M. I lickel
Kalispell, MT 59901
October 3, 2022
Denise Michel
Human Resources Director
City of Kalispell
201 First Avenue EastA.
Kalispell, MT 599034,-
RE: Kalispell Municipal Judge Vacancy
j� Letter of lnterestYla " s:
Dear Denise:
Please accept this letter of interest, letters of professional reference, and statement of
qualifications as my application to serve as Kalispell Municipal Judge for the stated term. I have
served as an attorney in the State of Montana for more than 35 years. Prior to that, I was
licensed to practice law in the State of North Dakota for 3 years. At this time, I remain current
with all qualifications necessary to serve as Municipal Court Judge in Phis state. I have been a
Kalispell resident since 1996 and would be honored to be considered for and intimately selected
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to serve as Kalispell Municipal Court (KMC) Judge on an interim basis.
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JU My background as a former and long-time prosecutor with the Kalispell City Attorney's
Office, I believe makes me uniquely qualified for this important position. When I was hired as
Assistant City Attorney in 1996, I was privileged to become the first, full-time assistant in the
Kalispell City Attorney's Office. My hiring coincided with the transition in Kalispell from a city
court to a municipal court in January 1997. I practiced before Municipal Judge Heidi Ulbricht
until she moved to state District Court. I am quite confident in stating that NO attorney has
more experience in presenting cases before a jury in Kalispell Municipal Court than I do. In FN
addition to representing the City of Kalispell in more than 100 jury trials, I prosecuted literally
thousands of misdemeanor offenses in KMC during my 10 years as the primary prosecutor for
the City (est. 80% conviction rate on jury trials; est. 98% conviction rate on bench trials). These
results show that my trial experience includes a complete understanding and rigid adherence to
the Montana Rules of Evidence. My prosecutorial experience included everything from making
the initial charging decision, to presenting the case in court, addressing all pretrial motions,
negotiating settlements, and when necessary ultimately taking the case to trial or subsequent "Y
appeals to District Court. In those thousands of cases I prosecuted, I recall only two where the
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Montana Supreme Court reversed the convictions (City of Kalispell v. Cameron and State of;:
Montana v. Tackitt.)
Denise Michel
^ Page 2
October 3, 2022
I should add that while serving as Adjutant City Attorney, I also handled many civil cases
in Kalispell Municipal Court, including municipal code violations. While civil cases comprise
only a very minor percentage of the cases handled by the KMC, I obtained a favorable result for
the City of Kalispell in every civil case I handled, with one exception. My civil experience while
practicing law includes service as a court -appointed mediator for family law cases filed in
District Court. In the past three years, I have successfully handled family law mediation cases
for District Judges Allison, Wilson, and Eddy.
' Notwithstanding my background as a civil advocate for the city and as a former city
i" prosecutor, I clearly understand the neutral role the trial judge plays when presiding over cases in
Municipal Court. My ability to serve in a neutral capacity is best illustrated through my service
as court -appointed mediator. Due to my relatively recent retirement from the City, it is
VAN conceivable that I may need to recuse myself from cases in which I had significant involvement
as attorney for the City of Kalispell. But, I believe this may be mitigated by the fact that I am
several years removed from my role as primary prosecutor for the city. My association with the
• current city prosecutors was relatively short term. I assure you and the screening committee that
I pledge to be vigilant in ensuring that all parties to cases which may come before me are treated
with proper respect and hopefully will leave the courtroom feeling that they had a fair
�., opportunity to present their side of the case before an impartial trial judge.
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In closing, as a Municipal Judge you also serve a role as supervisor to municipal court
staff. In this capacity, I believe it is vitally important to have managerial experience in dealing
with staff. As a current director for the Montana Public Employees Retirement Administration
and as a former partner in a private law firm, I have experience with both budgeting and with
personnel management. In addition, my educational background includes a Master's Degree in
Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resource Management and Finance. I
believe that with my business experience along with my long relationship with the Municipal
Court Clerk, I will immediately have the trust and support of Municipal Court staff.
In the interest of full disclosure, I wish to make clear that at this time, I do not have an
interest in continuing as Municipal Judge after the expiration of this interim term. As you are
aware, I recently retired from the City of Kalispell. While I enjoy my retirement, I am keenly
aware of the fact that the Kalispell Municipal Court can be very busy. I believe it is important to
have someone familiar with the Court and its processes in place quickly to provide needed
stability and continuity in that office. I firmly believe that I am the one person who is best able
to address the immediate challenges presented by the current situation.
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Denise Michel
Page 3
October 3, 2022
I look forward to hearing from you and having the opportunity to meet with your
selection committee. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
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Richard M. Hickel
Richard M. Hickel
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Juris Doctor Master of Business Administration Bachelor of Artss•t,
' �' Univ. of Oklahoma Univ. of Montana Univ. of North Dakota
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Norman, OK Missoula, MT Grand Forks, ND
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Adjutant City Attorney Assistant City Attorney Deputy County Attorney
City of Kalispell City of Kalispell Flathead County
2002-2022 1996-2001 2001-2002
` Retired in July, 2022
Associate Attorney Attorney/Partner
French, Mercer, Grainey & O'Neill Rector & Hickel
1995-1996 1987-1992; 1994-1995
Ronan, MT
Glasgow, MT
As Adjutant City Attorney for the City of Kalispell, I handled both civil matters and criminal
matters. I served as the primary prosecutor for the City of Kalispell for approximately 10 years
and conducted more than 100 jury trials in Kalispell Municipal Court on behalf of the City. After
transitioning to primarily handling civil matters for the City, I continued to assist the prosecutors
and advise the Kalispell Police Department on criminal matters, as needed. While serving as
Deputy County Attorney for Flathead County, I prosecuted both felony and misdemeanor offenses
on behalf of the State of Montana.
My civil experience with the City of Kalispell included assisting the Human Resources Department
on personnel matters, assisting the City Attorney with contract issues and risk management, along
with advising virtually every department of the City on legal issues as required.
ADDITIONAL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE:
��i:=t.-. .ti .- .-.�-'''�: '.. +�'£:,•c'-!' ...f' T. 4E�S Sa.^+l�,,.;:F-fir• '.t; _df.� �•.:�s'.'S-:.. � - ..- .a � _ •.- -. .-. ..- ,.r. .:.l,• �- - .>. .... ��
Montana Public Employees Retirement Administration
Board Member, Current Vice President
2021-current (Term expires in March 2026)
1 lelena, MT
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Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority
Board Member 2012-2011
Chair, Claims Committee 2012-2022
Helena, MT
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES:
Frank Garner
Former Chief of Police
City of Kalispell .
Jolene Shima
Municipal Court Clerk
City of Kalispell
Hon. 1 leidi J. Ulbricht
1 lth Judicial District Judge
Kalispell, MT
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