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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A district court judge has thrown out a state senator’s guilty verdict less than 24 hours after it was spoken. Sen. Jason Ellsworth was found guilty of using his access to Senate funds to privately award $170,000 in government contracts to a longtime friend, using a loophole to avoid a public bid. A retrial is scheduled for December. -
After more than a year of investigations and a six-day trial, Republican Sen. Jason Ellsworth has been found guilty of abusing his power to award a close friend $170,000 in government contracts. -
Infighting continues in the Montana Republican Party as a new set of bylaws for party members comes under scrutiny in district court. A Montana state senator charged with official misconduct faces a jury trial that started Tuesday. More than 100,000 people responded to a proposed overhaul of federal grazing regulations. -
A potential plan for bolstering state support for school safety is taking shape ahead of the next legislative session. -
State Sen. Jason Ellsworth, a Republican from Hamilton and former Senate president, was charged last year with official misconduct for awarding two no-bid state contracts to a longtime friend.
