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.”
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at April 30, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from April 30 drawing
07-09-18-28, Bonus: 07
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 30 drawing
05-19-21-42-55, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
BUTTE, Mont. — The city of Belgrade has earned some serious bragging rights.
The city of Belgrade’s tap water won a blind taste test on Thursday morning at a joint conference of the Montana Section of the American Water Works Association (MSAWWA) and the Montana Water Environment Association (MWEA).
Belgrade now moves onto the national AWWA annual conference in Washington D.C. in June, where they will compete for the People’s Choice and Best of The Best Awards.
Montana tap water has scored well at the national conference in the past. In 2015, the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District won the Best of the Best award. In 2019, Bozeman won third place in the Best of the Best competition.
Water is judged based on taste, clarity, aftertaste, and odor.
“It is definitely a point of pride and a little bit competitive between communities around Montana. It’s pretty fun to see the operators that work so hard on their water sources and bringing that into their communities to be able to take that to even the state level and the national level, and take home a prize for that,” said Carrie Gardner, national director for the Montana section of the AWWA and a water/wastewater regional team manager for Great West Engineering. “So, it’s truly important to everyone here just to deliver clean, safe, water. But that’s also a fun aspect, to be able to have some bragging rights, too.”
Belgrade was one of only three cities that provided samples of their water to the conference this year, joining Missoula and Kalispell.
Thursday’s taste test was part of the final day of the conference, where operators, engineers, consultants, and regulators from across the state work together to protect Montana’s water resources.
This year’s conference theme was Resiliency and Risk.
“All of us are here because we care about the communities we live in in Montana and being able to have drought resistant systems,” said Gardner. “Water is a critical resource. So our focus is delivering clean water, public health, and safety. Making sure we have sources available, and, that we’re cleaning that water going back so we can have less environmental impacts and be able to reduce the issues that drought causes.”
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at April 29, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from April 29 drawing
03-19-35-51-67, Powerball: 15, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from April 29 drawing
06-19-24-30-48, Star Ball: 04, ASB: 05
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from April 29 drawing
16-18-27-28, Bonus: 05
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from April 29 drawing
07-52-56-67-69, Powerball: 03
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Montana Cash numbers from April 29 drawing
11-14-24-29-45
Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 29 drawing
05-10-17-21-42, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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