BEFORE THE BOARD OF LIVESTOCK STATE OF MONTANA
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR TRANSFER OF THE MARKET CERTIFICATE FOR HEADWATERS LIVESTOCK AUCTION FINAL ORDER
On August 10, 2026, the Montana Department of Livestock (Department) held a public contested case hearing pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. § 81-8-253 and Admin. R. Mont. 32.15.105(4) on the request to transfer the livestock market certificate of Valley View, LLC to Wheatland Livestock, LLC (Wheatland). The Department retained a hearing examiner to conduct the hearing pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. § 2-4-611, and on August 21, 2026, the hearing examiner issued a Proposed Decision and Recommended Order (Proposed Decision) recommending that the proposed market certificate transfer be approved.
On August 24, 2026, the parties were served with the Proposed Decision and notified that the Board of Livestock (Board) would review the Proposed Decision at its Board meeting on August 27, 2026. The parties were given an opportunity to submit exceptions pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. § 2-4-621(1) on an expedited basis before the August 27 hearing or to request that this matter be heard by the Board at a later date. Valley View, LLC responded that it had no exceptions. Cassidy Brunner, member of Wheatland and HLA, LLC (HLA), requested that the Proposed Decision reflect that the livestock market certificate be transferred to HLA, not Wheatland.1 Brunner provided an Assignment of and First Amendment to Master Purchase and
1 Neither Wheatland nor HLA were represented by counsel at the August 10, 2026 contested case hearing. Brunner is not a licensed attorney. However, the Board finds that consideration of her requested exception is warranted despite Admin. R. Mont. 32.2.101(1) and 1.3.231(2) and Sagorin v. Sunrise Heating & Cooling, LLC, 2022 MT 58, ¶ 11, 408 Mont. 119, 506 P.3d 1028 requirement that limited liability companies be represented by counsel at a contested case
In re the Application for Transfer of the Market Certificate for Headwaters Livestock Auction Final Order