Federal Judge Blocks Bridge Construction on Short Ranch

A federal judge granted the Short family an injunction in court yesterday, preventing Billings County from doing construction on the infamous Little Missouri River bridge crossing on the Short family’s ranch.

From the Bismarck Tribune article:

The case will now likely move forward in state court where the family has filed a challenge to Billings County’s eminent domain attempt. Eminent domain litigation typically involves disputes over whether the compensation offered was “just,” and it is rare for a government’s right to use the practice to be blocked. But the Shorts have said there is no amount of money they would take for the bridge to be built on their land and they believe their claims that the county engaged in the process in “bad faith” will prove successful.