Montana
Judge denies retired Montana Highway Patrol chief's motion to find AG in contempt • Daily Montanan
Attorney General Austin Knudsen won’t be facing a contempt order from court in a wrongful discharge lawsuit.
A former Montana Highway Patrol chief who is suing Knudsen and the state argued that the attorney general should be found in contempt for allowing the Department of Justice to disseminate confidential personnel information — an allegation the DOJ denied.
A district court judge denied the motion to set a contempt hearing last month. Lawyers for the state called the motion “unorthodox” and “a red herring.”
In the lawsuit, former Highway Patrol Col. Steve Lavin alleged he was wrongfully terminated after he launched a management review and workplace climate survey.
As part of that lawsuit, lawyers for Lavin alleged the DOJ shared private information about Lavin with political consultant Jake Eaton and The Political Company, and Eaton more widely released it in an email to clients.
The Political Company provided fundraising consulting to Knudsen, a Republican re-elected as attorney general in November.
In the email, Eaton criticized Lavin as “an inept leader” albeit “super nice guy.”
The court filing from Lavin’s lawyers didn’t specify which part of the email it considered private personnel information.
Eaton is not party to the lawsuit, but he earlier told the Daily Montana the criticisms in his email came from social media and gossip circles, not the DOJ.
In its response to the motion, Brown Law Firm lawyers representing Knudsen argued the state shouldn’t have to argue for Eaton, a third party, who acted as a private individual “with no official judicial or ministerial duties.”
Regardless, they also said Eaton’s explanation to the Daily Montanan that his sources did not include the DOJ make the contempt motion moot.
Plus, they said, the timing didn’t add up for such a motion.
They said the lawsuit was still “in its infancy,” their deadline to answer hadn’t even passed before the contempt motion came up, and it could “only be classified as a poorly masked attempt to force defendants to appear prior to their statutorily prescribed deadline.”
The lawyers argued that when contempt isn’t committed in open court or within the purview of the presiding judge, an affidavit outlining the facts constituting contempt needs to be presented, and one was not. So they said the judge should deny the motion.
In the order last month, Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Michael McMahon agreed with the state’s argument about the need for an affidavit outlining “a statement of the facts.”
The order denied the plaintiff’s request that the court set a hearing “to allow defendants to answer why they should not be held indirect civil contempt.”
The order said the contempt motion was not supported by an affidavit, required when contempt is alleged outside the view of the court. It also said the Montana Supreme Court had found procedures must be followed in such cases.
In a phone call, lawyer Ben Reed, representing Lavin, said the team’s interest in raising concerns about the email was to ensure the dispute remained focused on the allegations of wrongful termination — and stayed between the parties in the case without interference from outsiders.
“We simply wanted to bring these issues to the attention of the court and make it clear that the case is about what’s in front of the court, and not about what’s not (in front of the court), and to try and keep third parties from joining into the chorus,” Reed said.
Reed, of the Delli Bovi, Martin and Reed firm, also said the plaintiffs will carry on with the lawsuit.
“We’re confident that we can move on in good order and according to the rule of law,” Reed said.
Spokespeople from the DOJ did not respond to requests for comment. In response to the allegations in the lawsuit, the DOJ earlier said Lavin agreed to retire after the Highway Patrol “lost confidence” in him.
In their court filing about the motion for contempt, they said the lawsuit is only about employment.
“Defendants view this as an employment matter — one where the plaintiff signed a release as part of a negotiated severance agreement, which is a complete defense to plaintiff’s claims in this matter,” said the lawyers for Knudsen. “Plaintiff is merely trying to distract from that fact with a red herring motion.”
It’s the talk of the town this week — powerful winds ripped the roof off Lincoln Elementary School on Sunday, leaving students, teachers, and residents in shock.
The incident has sparked concern among homeowners who are now worried about how such weather damage could impact their own homes—and what their insurance would cover.
According to Tauna Locatelli, owner of Advantage Insurance, most insurance policies have a set deductible for things like fire or theft, but wind and hail damage deductibles are often much higher, or even based on a percentage of a property’s value.
Quentin Shores reports – watch the video here:
Wind damage highlights insurance challenges for Montana homeowners
“Right now our industry is going through a really challenging time, especially when it comes to wind and hail in Montana. Several carriers are going to a standard ‘all peril’ deductible for everything other than wind and hail. So, it could be $1,000 for all but wind and hail, $2,500 wind and hail,” Locatelli explained.
A deductible is the amount homeowners must pay before insurance covers the rest. For wind and hail, that deductible can be steep.
“Some companies are going 1 or 2% of a coverage value, so that’s the building value. If it’s insured for $500,000 and you have a 1% deductible, you’re looking at a $5,000 deductible for wind and hail, which is what we get in Montana,” Locatelli said.
It’s important for homeowners to know their deductible—if repairs cost less than the deductible, insurance won’t pay anything.
Filing small claims can also impact your rates; Locatelli said, “Because if you have a $3,000 patch job claim and you have a $5,000 deductible, you really don’t want to file that because you’re not going to get anything in. That claim is going to follow your insurance record for five years.”
Age of property factors in as well. If you have an older roof, insurance may not fully cover its replacement.
“You’ve now lived half the roof life. Well, insurance is about indemnity and putting you back in the same condition you were in before the loss. You can’t put a 16-year-old roof on a home, so at 16 years, they’ll now pay 50% of that roof instead of 100% because it’s already lived half of its life. And then it drops each year as it goes by,” Locatelli added.
The bottom line: Keep your property maintained, review your insurance policy, and think carefully before filing a claim—especially as Montana faces more intense weather.
HELENA — On Monday, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent a letter to the City of Helena claiming the municipality is not in compliance with the state’s law banning “sanctuary cities.” The letter comes just under a month after the State of Montana launched an investigation into a city resolution on Helena Police policy and Helena’s involvement in federal immigration enforcement.
In the letter, Knudsen laid out the ways he believes the city’s resolution violated state law. The attorney general gave Helena 15 days to respond or reverse the policy. If the city does not comply, his office will pursue legal action.
“Helena’s resolution appears to contain blatant violations of this law,” wrote Knudsen.
MTN News
On January 26, 2026, the City of Helena adopted a resolution clarifying when and how the Helena Police Department will cooperate with federal immigration officials. The vote was 4 to 1. The Helena commission seats and the mayor are elected in non-partisan races.
In the letter, Knudsen alleges the resolution established “a broad sanctuary city policy” that seeks to protect every illegal immigrant, regardless of whether the individual had committed a serious crime or not. The state further claims the resolution gives illegal immigrants “special privileges” in plea deals and establishes a “free-for-all policy” where a police officer can request the unmasking of Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers.
Knudsen has requested that the City of Helena, in their response, specifically describe in detail how the resolution complies with Montana law, provide emails and correspondence from city staff and the commission regarding the resolution.
Helena City manager Alana Lake told MTN in a statement: “The City of Helena is aware of the issues being raised by the Attorney General’s Office and is reviewing the matter. While we cannot discuss the details of a potential legal issue, the City is committed to transparency and compliance with the law. The City takes these matters seriously and will continue to cooperate with the appropriate authorities while remaining focused on serving our community.”
MTN News 
Passed in 2021, Montana House Bill 200 prohibits a state agency or local government from implementing any policy that prevents employees or departments from communicating with federal agencies regarding immigration or citizenship status for lawful purposes. It also states governments must comply with immigration detainer requests if they are lawfully made.
HB 200 was backed by Republicans and passed with only Republican votes. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the legislation into law on March 31, 2021.
Passage of the resolution by the Helena City Commission has drawn ire from conservative voices in Montana politics and on the national level.
MTN News
The resolution said the commission supported the Helena Police Department avoiding “committing its resources to federal action for which it has no authority,” such as entering into an agreement with the federal government to directly enforce immigration laws. Under federal law, immigration enforcement is conducted by federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security. However, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, state and local governments can voluntarily enter into 287 (g) agreements with the federal government that allow them to enforce immigration laws.
The commission further supported HPD’s policy not to stop, detain, or arrest a person solely on suspected violations of immigration law, including assisting other agencies in an arrest based solely on immigration law.
DEEPER LOOK: Helena has seen a growing debate over ICE and local police involvement
In the resolution, the commission also supported an HPD officer, using their own discretion, requesting the identification and unmasking of a Department of Homeland Security Officer if the HPD officer “feels it will not be interfering with the actions of federal officers exercising their jurisdiction.”
“This adversarial relationship by local law enforcement toward federal officers itself undermines public safety and forces immigration officers to fear for their safety when they are simply carrying out their lawful duties,” wrote Knudsen.
The resolution further supports the City of Helena’s policy not to consider immigration consequences in a plea agreement with a defendant.
Mack Carmack, MTN News
The commission also supports the City of Helena not disclosing any sensitive information about any person – including immigration status, sexual orientation, or social security number – except as required by law.
“This is a restriction that directly conflicts with Montana’s prohibition on sanctuary jurisdictions, specifically ‘sending to, receiving from, exchanging with, or maintaining for a federal, state, or local government entity information regarding a person’s citizenship or immigration status for a lawful purpose,’” the attorney general wrote.
If a government is found to be violating Montana’s law banning “sanctuary cities”, the state could fine them $10,000 every five days, prevent them from receiving new grants from the state, and have their projects with the state re-prioritized. A government in violation can avoid penalties by becoming compliant with the law within 14 days of being notified of the violation.
Read the full letter from the Montana Attorney General to the City of Helena:
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