William E. Hunt

William Edward Hunt, Sr. (February 28, 1923 – February 16, 2016) was an American soldier, lawyer, and jurist. He served as the County Attorney for Liberty County, Montana, and later as the mayor of Chester, Montana. During his tenure as mayor, he founded the Montana Consumers Council. From 1970 to 1975, he served as the Director of the Montana Aeronautics Commission (which later became the Aeronautics Division of the Montana Department of Transportation). He was appointed the first Montana Workers' Compensation Court judge in July 1975, organizing the court and serving until August 1981. He won a nonpartisan election as an associate justice of the Montana Supreme Court in 1984, and served from January 2, 1985, until his retirement on December 31, 2000.

Early life and military service Hunt was born on February 28, 1923, in Tacoma, Washington, to William C. and Ann ( Nolan) Hunt, the second of eight children.Efn|His siblings included Eileen, Bob, Don, Mary Jane, Larry, Janet, and Dick.

Hunt dropped out of high school at the age of 16. Declaring he was born February 29, 1920, he enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard in April 1939. He was assigned to the somewhat newly-organized 113th Cavalry, which at that time still exclusively used horses. The 113th Cavalry began conversion into a combined horse-armored unit in September 1940 and was mobilized into federal service on January 13, 1941. Hunt trained as a radio operator, and participated in the United States Army's landing in Algeria and Sicily before being among the first wave of soldiers going ashore at Utah Beach as part of the Normandy Landings on June 6, 1944. Another formative experience for Hunt was exposure to the racial segregation faced by African American soldiers during the war, which deeply troubled him. Hunt received his combined BA/JD degree in 1955.

Hunt, by now married, moved to Walla Walla, Washington, to practice law, but a short time later moved his practice to Havre, Montana. Hunt then won a position in 1960 as the county attorney for nearby Liberty County, Montana. He and his family moved to Chester, the county seat. While serving as mayor of Chester, Hunt became concerned as the Montana Power Company raised rates more than six-fold in two years. Hunt subsequently formed the Montana Consumer Council in 1968 as a means of raising funds to investigate the rate increase as well as providing a voice for consumers in the state. Hunt was the organization's first executive director. The deficiencies in protecting consumer interests which were exposed by the Montana Consumer Council led to the creation of a state consumers' counsel office in the 1972 Constitution of Montana.

In 1970, Hunt was named a trustee of Central Montana Legal Services, a nonprofit organization which provides legal services to the indigent and poor. He and his family moved to Helena that year.

Montana Workers' Compensation Court judge Hunt was named the first Montana Workers' Compensation Court judge in 1975. Initially, after adoption of the 1972 state constitution, the Montana Legislature established an Industrial Accident Board within the new Montana Department of Labor and Industry to both run the state workers' compensation insurance fund and to adjudicate the claims of injured workers. This conflict of interest led to denial and approval of injury awards which were not based on facts, lump-sum payments to workers, improper and inappropriate internal procedures, poor recordkeeping, and the increasing personal involvement of the board's administrator in disputes. Courts began overturning board decisions with increasing frequency, and began fining and punishing the agency. After a state audit of the board revealed the extent of these problems, the state legislature passed a bill in 1975 which established a quasi-judicial Workers' Compensation Court to separate the adjudication function of the agency from its administrative and fiduciary duties.

Governor Thomas Judge nominated Hunt to be the first Workers' Compensation Court judge. Hunt was confirmed by the Montana Senate and served in that capacity from July 1975 to August 1981. Hunt became known statewide as "The Flying Judge" for his extensive travels around the state of Montana holding workers' compensation court hearings. After retiring as Workers' Compensation Court judge in 1981, Hunt returned to the private practice of law in Helena. Joe R. Roberts, Montana Assistant Attorney General; Donald D. McIntyre, Chief Legal Counsel for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation; and Patricia M. Springer, an attorney. Poppler won the nonpartisan primary with 34.3 percent of the vote (46,659 votes). Hunt came in second place with 19.0 percent of the vote (25,906 votes), beating Joe R. Roberts by a razor-thin margin (18.8 percent of the votes; 25,555 votes). Per state law, the top two vote-getters advanced to the general election. In the general election campaign, Hunt asked voters to consider his experiences as an elected official and judge. "I think I have acquired some knowledge, a great deal of compassion and perhaps a little wisdom," he said.

Hunt ran unopposed for a second term in 1992. Under Montana state law, judges in uncontested nonpartisan primary elections automatically advance to the general election. The general election then becomes a choice of "retain/do not retain". Hunt was retained by Montana voters with 68.2 percent of the vote (232,640 votes).

Hunt was widely perceived as a liberal on a court with a strong conservative majority in his first term, when he was often in minority. Former law clerks said that Hunt used the gray areas of the law to protect individuals, the powerless, the poor, and minorities.

Awards and honors The Montana Trial Lawyers Association gave Hunt three awards. The first two were its Public Service and Career Achievement awards, given in 2000, and the third was its Citizens Award, presented in 2007. Hunt received the Jeannette Rankin Public Service Award from the Montana chapter of the ACLU in 2009.

In 2003, William E. Hunt was inducted into the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Honor.

The Hunts had five children: Joseph, James, Katherine, Patricia, and William E. Jr.

Death Hunt suffered from frail health in the last several years of his life, and lived at the Rocky Mountain Care Center nursing home in Helena after 2012. He died of natural causes on February 16, 2016. His funeral was held at the Cathedral of Saint Helena in Helena, Montana, and he was interred at Resurrection Cemetery outside the city.

Electoral history

1984

1992