Category: Montana News
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Mark your calendars for Constitution Day
For Constitution Day 2026, The Friends of the Montana Constitution invite the public to join a free lecture by the Honorable Anthony Johnstone on Montana’s Constitution at the new Montana Heritage Center in Helena, Montana. The first annual Montana Constitution Day is sponsored by the Montana Historical Society and the Friends of the Montana Constitution.…
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Policy dinner in Helena to take up state Constitutional Convention
By:Keila Szpaller | Daily Montanan A prominent think tank is promoting the chance state residents have on the 2030 ballot to hold a state Constitutional Convention, and Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte will headline the policy dinner where Mountain States Policy Center will feature the possible rewrite of the state’s foundational document. The event on Feb. 24 will…
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Montana Republicans gather for kickoff event in Great Falls
Judiciary remains a focus for state GOP, Zinke speaks on Trump Administration By: Jordan Hansen GREAT FALLS — Republicans from across Montana gathered in Great Falls on Friday to kick off the 2026 campaign cycle, highlighting taxes and judicial reform as issues the party is looking to address. The Montana GOP Winter Kickoff is a…
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Montana GOP names courts as a top priority for 2026
Montana Public Radio | By Shaylee Ragar Flathead County District Court Judge Dan Wilson speaks at the Montana GOP Winter Kickoff in Great Falls on February 6, 2026. The Montana Republican Party held its winter kickoff in Great Falls over the weekend. Party Chair Art Wittich says he has four goals for the midterms. One…
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Lawfare vindication for AG Knudsen?
Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s 41-count professional misconduct saga was laid to rest Dec. 31 in the final work hours of the final day of the fifth year since anonymous complaints triggered a high-stakes attorney discipline proceedingby accusing him of defying a Montana Supreme Court order and disparaging the system of justice. The New Year’s Eve ruling was greeted…
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Montana Supreme Court: Austin Knudsen can continue practicing law
The Montana Supreme Court has declined a request to suspend the law license of Montana’s top lawyer, Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Knudsen, Montana’s attorney general since 2021, had been under scrutiny froma Montana Supreme Court-appointed body that investigates and assesses Montana attorneys’ adherence to state standards of professional conduct. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel had argued that…
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Montana Supreme Court says attorney general overstepped in rewriting ballot language on nonpartisan court races
Montana’s attorney general went too far in revising the language for a proposed ballot initiative calling for nonpartisan court races, the state’s high court ruled Thursday. For the second time in a month, Montana Supreme Court justices ruled that Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, needlessly amended initiative ballot language pertaining to the state’s nonpartisan…
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Supreme Court says AG can’t rewrite ballot initiative on nonpartisan judges
In two separate but related rulings, the Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed with Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen that a ballot measure that would have controlled judicial elections was unconstitutional, while allowing another to move forward, saying the wording his office proposed overstepped his authority. Both measures involve the group Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts…
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Attorney general’s edits to ballot initiative went too far, Montana Supreme Court rules
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen went too far in editing ballot language for an initiative calling for nonpartisan court elections, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. With two judges dissenting, the justices sided with Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts, ruling that changes Knudsen made to Constitutional Initiative 132 would “mislead voters and prevent them from casting an intelligent…
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Montana’s Constitutional transparency in government is the point of ‘We The People’
When I filed to run for delegate to Montana’s 1972 Constitutional Convention, I felt that writing a new Constitution was all about “We the People.” Those electing the delegates were “We the People of Montana” who then ratified our Constitution, creating a government by which ee govern ourselves through elections. We hold the power of…