Inside a rancher family’s clash with gov’t that could have ripple effect right to SCOTUS: ‘Existential threat’

Wade and Teresa King say a Washington state fine and restoration orders over ponds on their cattle ranch threaten their financial future and property rights. Their dispute also raises a broader question: whether people facing state agency penalties are entitled to have their case heard by a jury.

The Department of Ecology fined the Kings $267,540 in 2023, alleging they damaged protected wetlands; the couple says the ponds are longstanding water sources for livestock. A county judge ruled they must first use the state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board, which does not hold jury trials, but an appeals commissioner paused those proceedings while the jury-rights appeal is considered. Their lawyers estimate compliance could cost more than $3.7 million and say they may ask the US Supreme Court to consider the case if they lose in Washington.