APNewsBreak: Adopted kids' ranch denied license

HELENA, Mont. – It's not just the Russian government raising questions about a Montana ranch for troubled kids adopted from foreign countries.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press through a public information request show the Ranch For Kids in Eureka has been operating without a license since 2010.

A Montana Labor and Industry regulatory board says the license was denied because the ranch's owner failed to prove that problems found in an inspection were corrected. The board last year ordered the ranch to close.

Ranch owner Joyce Sterkel is appealing that order in court. She says the ranch has become part of a church mission and is no longer under the board's authority.

Russian governmental officials who wanted to check on adopted children from Russia were not allowed on the ranch last month.