Montana lawmakers can now decide if their communication with lobbyists and outside groups is available to the public. That’s due to a court order from a Lewis and Clark County judge.
Montana district judge Christopher Abbott this summer ruled that lawmakers' communications with private individuals were privileged, and therefore not subject to the public’s right to know.
That information was previously kept in public record as part of “junque files”. Those are folders documenting communications between lawmakers and other parties while drafting bills.
Legislator’s staff attorneys say individual lawmakers can sign waivers giving up their privilege and make those communications public, but Abbott’s ruling means they’re not obligated to.
Abbott ordered that copies of bill drafts and lawmakers’ communications with other government officials remain public.
The order came in an ongoing lawsuit over the 2023 Legislature’s redrawing of maps for seats on the Public Service Commission.
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Two members of the public, along with the Montana Environmental Information Center, are suing the state Legislature over a new policy they say violates their constitutional right-to-know.
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An oversight board of Montana attorneys has recommended that Attorney General Austin Knudsen be suspended from practicing law for 90 days. The decision came after Knudsen was charged with 41 counts of professional misconduct.
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The Montana Supreme Court upheld a temporary block Wednesday on laws that would restrict access to abortion while a lawsuit continues to play out in district court.
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Montana’s attorney general appeared before an oversight commission on Wednesday to face charges of professional misconduct. Attorney General Austin Knudsen was asked about several statements he or attorneys in his office made about the Montana Supreme Court in 2021.
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State land managers asked lawmakers to allow housing development on state trust lands. Lawmakers didn't endorse the idea this week, but it could resurface during the upcoming legislative session.