Dispute Over Water Rights Headed to Court

A Carbon County couple is suing the former county sheriff and current county attorney in a dispute over access to water.

An attorney for the couple says officials violated the husband's constitutional rights after he was cited for trespass during a 2013 water dispute with a neighbor.

According to the Billings Gazette , the trespassing charge was dismissed. Roberts rancher William Burgan and his wife, Lynette, filed the lawsuit in Billings District Court last month.

Burgan's attorney says the landowner involved in the trespass dispute had local law enforcement working on his behalf.

The couple says they own the water and their neighbor illegally denied them access to their irrigation headgate for the Hunter-Northey Ditch starting in 2012.

The neighbor rejected their claims and the officials refused to comment.

Reported by the Associated Press