I’ll let you in on a little media secret: One of the most asked questions we get is exactly the one we can’t answer.

Here’s the question we get a lot, and we’re not alone in our inability to get answers: How much does the state of Montana spend on attorneys defending itself in court?

I get the question. The number of jobs the state has single-handedly created for attorneys should help boost the state’s monthly jobs and unemployment rate statistics. For four years of Republican control in almost all aspects of government, no bad idea has been denied the opportunity of legislation.

A lot of nonsense flew through the Legislature to the open arms of Gov. Greg Gianforte, who seemed only too happy to add his signature for the sake of furthering the alleged Republican mandate. For example, the Montana Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed its decision to keep abortion legal through the 1999 case Armstrong vs. State of Montana, which hasn’t seemed to dampen the Republican enthusiasm to pass bills to restrict the practice, and thereby re-test the resolve of the courts. That has literally cost the taxpayers of Montana millions by re-litigating that which was already well established.

The logic, if you’ll excuse the abuse of that word, is that even the lawmakers know much of what they’re passing runs contrary to case law and the Constitution. That doesn’t matter. Their own legal staff have expressed concerns through legal notes. That doesn’t matter either.

These are show-bills that demonstrate how committed Republicans are to their own policies and satisfying a riled-up base. What happens after that truly becomes a matter for the courts and the state’s treasury.

The danger and fallacy of a supermajority is the belief that just because Montanans have generally supported Republicans, they support every single position that Republicans coalesce around. There are notable exceptions, for example, support for public lands even though the GOP has tried to curtail our natural resources and access. And, of course, Montanans seemed repeatedly enthusiastic about marijuana, leading to a tug-of-war where the people won the right to weed and the state’s coffers filled with a different type of green, despite the GOP’s attempts at paternalism.

But the challenge with all these challenges is that the taxpaying Montana public is supporting a cottage industry centering on state litigation, but no one — and I mean no one — can say what that means for certain. In other words, how much is bad legislation costing us?

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen can hold onto his cowboy hat at this point: As much as he continues to add his name to any lawsuit that would seem to antagonize the Biden administration throughout the country, he’s got plenty of work here at home. And he doesn’t necessarily have a choice.

The Attorney General, by definition, is forced to defend the state, and by extension, the lawmakers who author and support some of these legally dubious bills, as well as the poor bureaucrats who are tasked with implementing them.

There have been so many lawsuits, it’s hard to track them all. Two years ago, after the contentious 2021 Legislature, we were tracking more than 40 lawsuits dealing with the state, the Gianforte administration and the courts.

One may think the exercise should be as easy as looking toward the state’s budget for the Montana Department of Justice and finding the literal bottom line. But that ignores how most people think the Montana Attorney General’s Office works and how it actually works in practice.

We get asked: How many lawsuits is the state fighting? How much has Montana spent on outside counsel? How much have these struck-down bills cost us?

We don’t know. We have asked repeatedly, and by “we,” I mean multiple members of the media.

The problem is one of budgets and categories. When asking the Legislative Auditor about it, they said the answer is not clear, and that Austin Amestoy of Montana Public Radio wrote a story about it a couple of years ago where the best he could do was estimate.

I have been and continue to be critical of the way Knudsen handles the Attorney General’s Office, but this time, he probably has a point.

Lawsuits come to his office in a variety of ways — from direct challenges to other officials getting sued in their official capacity, which then obligates the state’s legion of attorneys, housed under the Attorney General, to defend them. Which department specifically pays the bills depends on how the lawsuit is filed.

The other complicating factor, of course, is that sometimes the costs are borne by in-house counsel — that is, attorneys who work for Knudsen. Some other times, the counsel comes from the private sector.

And as anyone who has ever covered a lawsuit knows, the courts have their own pace, which can grind along for years, but the attorneys submit bills every month. Those attorney billing cycles may not overlap with budget years neatly. Now, compound that by dozens of cases and getting any sort of answer about how much we’re spending becomes nearly impossible.

So, this isn’t the case of government officials trying to “hide the ball” so as not to cause sticker-shock at the amount of taxpayer money we’re spending on attorneys.

Yet maybe the “how much” question, though, isn’t quite as important as the question: Why have we seen such a dramatic rise in challenged legislation? Or, what do Montanans have to show for all this legislation besides mounting legal costs?

An outspoken advocate for restoring voting rights for felons could become the first candidate with a known felony conviction to be elected to state office in Nevada.

Jovan Jackson, the Democratic candidate in heavily Democratic Assembly District 6, has a string of arrests, Medicaid sanctions and a felony conviction for his part in a 2015 armed robbery, records obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal show.

After serving a two-year sentence for the felony, he emerged from prison a changed man, he said.

“I tried a drug. I went completely psychotic from the drug,” Jackson, 32, told the Review-Journal. “I was able to rehabilitate in prison.”

Walter “Boo” Jones III, who is running against Jackson as a nonpartisan, said he isn’t buying it.

Jones has filed a complaint with the Nevada secretary of state, citing recent Medicaid sanctions against Jackson and a business he started, and claiming that Jackson doesn’t live in the district as required by law.

“How are you reforming yourself?” Jones, 61, said in an interview. “And you want to represent my district?”

Voting bill restores felons’ right to run for office

The Republican in the race, Nephi “Khaliki” Oliva, was arrested in March on felony charges for allegedly teaching concealed-weapon classes despite a revoked instructor’s license, according to Las Vegas police. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 19, after the election. Oliva did not respond to a request for comment.

In 2022, Oliva gained notoriety for racist slides he presented at a concealed-carry gun safety event that he described as an attempt at comedy.

Restoring felon rights

For years, Nevada, like many states, has slowly restored the civil rights of convicted felons. In 2003 and 2017, legislation made it easier for those convicted of lower-level felonies to have their rights restored.

In 2019, Assembly Bill 431 removed the final barriers for those convicted of the most serious crimes, automatically restoring not only their right to vote but to hold elective office and serve on a criminal jury. They previously needed to petition the court, receive a pardon or seal their record.

Now, felons in Nevada – regardless of the severity or number of crimes or where they occurred – can hold elective office four years after completing a sentence or term of parole or probation, and serve on a jury after six years, according to the Nevada attorney general’s office.

Jackson spoke publicly of his felony conviction at a news conference with Attorney General Aaron Ford and other Democratic politicians following passage of the 2019 legislation, touted by proponents as a voting-rights measure.

His first bid for office was an unsuccessful run in 2022 for North Las Vegas City Council.

If elected to the Assembly, Jackson – who handily won his Democratic primary with 84 percent of the vote in the heavily Democratic district – would be the first person “we know of” with a prior felony to hold state elective office, said Michael Green, an associate professor at UNLV and chair of its history department.

Jones, a lifelong Democrat, said he is running as a nonpartisan after apparently not selecting a party on a DMV voter-registration form.

History of arrests

Court records describe Jackson as the get-away driver in a 2015 armed robbery of a Henderson pawn shop. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and received probation. After his probation was revoked, he served a two-year sentence.

Jackson’s trouble with the law began in June 2014, when he was arrested on misdemeanor DUI and marijuana possession charges. He was found guilty of the DUI, according to records from the Nevada Department of Public Safety obtained through a public records request.

Jackson said this arrest came in the aftermath of a deadly ambush of two Las Vegas police officers inside a CiCis Pizza. There were “a lot of police out,” and as a “young black dude” driving a Mercedes, he got pulled over, he said. He contends that he wasn’t under the influence.

In February 2015, he was arrested on a misdemeanor charges of battery and resisting a public officer, and found guilty later that year of both. Jackson said he called police to report the theft of his car. He said he was experiencing mental health problems and did not understand why he was being handcuffed.

In March 2015, he was arrested on a felony drug possession charge and a misdemeanor charge of making a false statement to obstruct a public officer, state records show.

In November 2015, Jackson, then 23, was arrested and charged with multiple felonies in connection with an armed robbery of an EZ Pawn on Boulder Highway.

In January 2016, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. As part of the plea deal, the district attorney’s office said it would not oppose dismissal of the earlier felony drug charge, court records state.

In June 2016, the court sentenced Jackson to probation, the terms of which included that he undergo a mental health evaluation and complete any counseling deemed appropriate, according to court records. The terms also stated, “You shall not possess, have access to, or have under your control any type of weapon.”

In January 2017, Jackson’ probation was revoked after a photo of him with a gun was posted on Instagram, according to court and Division of Parole and Probation records.

Jackson told the Review-Journal that he posted the photo, but that it was taken prior to his probation. “I was a gun owner at one point in my life,” he said.

Petition: Incompetent to make plea deal

In January 2018, a new attorney for Jackson filed a petition arguing for his release. The petition stated that Jackson had been incompetent to enter into the plea deal.

“Jackson has an extensive mental health history in which he has been hospitalized, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, paranoia, hallucinations, and has been prescribed multiple psychiatric medications,” according to a brief appealing the District Court’s denial of the petition to the Supreme Court.

The brief stated that during the sentencing hearing, counsel noted that Jackson while incarcerated had been smearing himself with feces, having hallucinations and suffering from paranoia, including a belief that the Mafia was listening to his phone calls. It also stated that in the past he had been prescribed various medications, including an anti-psychotic drug, and had attempted suicide.

Because of severe mental health issues during the proceedings, Jackson had not understood the nature of his crime and the consequences of his guilty plea, the filing said.

The state responded in its brief, “These excuses are belied or repelled by the record. Nothing in Appellant’s medical history shows that he was incapable of understanding the terms of his guilty plea agreement.”

Jackson’s attorney, it said, had ordered two competency evaluations, in criminal cases running concurrently, in which he was found competent.

Additionally, the psychiatric evaluations that occurred after the current case had begun showed no evidence of mental incompetence.

Jackson told the Review-Journal that his mental health issues are behind him. “My mental health problem only stemmed from substance abuse,” he said, adding that receiving treatment and medication in jail stabilized his condition.

In December 2018, Jackson was “honorably discharged” from probation by the Division of Parole and Probation, a division record states.

In a 2020 op-ed in the Review-Journal, Jackson wrote that he turned his life around in part by volunteering for organizations including The Mass Liberation Project and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.

He is currently a senior board member of the Mass Liberation Project, his campaign website states. The group’s Nevada website says the project was launched in 2019 “to bolster the growing movement to end mass incarceration and abolish the criminal legal system as we know it.”

The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada has endorsed Jackson in his Assembly race.

Medicaid sanctions

Jackson’s campaign website describes the native Las Vegan as an “accomplished entrepreneur, advocate and community organizer.” It states that since 2011, he has run a small business and been providing mental health and social services.

He said he launched True Family Services in 2011 but gave up ownership when he went to prison. After prison, he returned to work as its program director until late 2022.

In April 2023, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services terminated True Family Services’ provider contract and imposed a 10-year sanction, according to a notice sent by state Medicaid to the business that the Review-Journal obtained through public record requests.

“Records were reviewed for dates of service in August 2021 which resulted in the True Family being placed on payment suspension for credible allegation of fraud,” the notice said.

It cited claims for uncovered services, “false payment or abusive billing practice” and “misrepresenting the service billed.”

Jackson would not comment on the sanctions, saying he did not want to speak for a business he no longer represented.

Jackson said he provides rehabilitative services for people on disability, including skills training, psychological rehabilitation and counseling. After leaving prison, he earned an associate’s degree at the College of Southern Nevada and is pursuing a degree at UNLV to become a therapist.

In March 2023, Jackson was terminated by the state as a Medicaid provider for failure to report his battery conviction, as required by his contract with Medicaid and by policy, and received a three-year sanction, according to a letter from state Medicaid obtained by the Review-Journal.

Jackson told the newspaper that he had followed Medicaid’s checklist for providers and “had no clue” about the reporting requirement.

Prior to his incarceration, Nevada Medicaid had sanctioned another business with which Jackson was involved. In September 2014, the agency sent a letter to Youth Empowerment stating it would be terminating its contractual relationship, citing a Medicaid provision that prohibits “any kickback, bribe or rebate” for a referral, according to a Medicaid notice of intent.

Jackson said he had served on the board but no longer is associated with the business, for which the secretary of state’s office listed him as a resident agent, which is the individual who receives legal notices and government documents.

Jones, Jackson’s opponent in the Assembly race, said he believes people are entitled to a second chance after prison but took issue with the new Medicaid violations.

“Apparently you’re not taking it serious enough, to get out and now you’re doing a different crime,” said Jones, who owns a construction company. “You’re messing with state money.”

Residency challenged by opponent

Jones, whose most recent financial disclosure form states he’s lived in the district for 26 years, hired a private investigator to look into suspicions that Jackson did not live at the address under which he filed to run for office.

Over a period of weeks, the investigator did not see Jackson or his vehicle at the address on Renada Circle. But on three consecutive occasions, Jackson was seen leaving from an address in District 7, according to the investigator’s report. His car was parked in the garage, and he used the code pad to close the garage door.

Jackson said when he filed for office, he did live at the address on Renada Circle — which assessor’s records show is owned by the Jackson Trust – but now lives across the street. He declined to provide that address. He said the address in District 7 is where his girlfriend lives.

Nevada law states that a person may have more than one residence but only one legal domicile. Where the person lives the majority of the time is a factor in determining legal domicile.

Jones said he included videotape evidence in the report of an election integrity violation that he filed with the secretary of state’s office. A spokesperson for the office confirmed that a report against Jackson had been filed.

“The matter is still open and so further details will not be made available at this time,” spokesperson Cecilia Heston wrote in an email.

Local activist Ty Jones, who helps guide Jackson’s campaign, described the candidate as “the epitome of wanting to turn your life around.”

Jackson said his experiences give him a greater understanding of the community.

“I think it’s important that we have normal people representing normal people – people who have been through some things representing people who have gone through some things,” he said. “That one moment doesn’t define who I am as a person. … Giving back to the community, we should be able to right our wrong.”

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on X. Hynes is a member of the Review-Journal’s investigative team, focusing on reporting that holds leaders and agencies accountable and exposes wrongdoing.