Commission on Practice Rejects Attorney General’s Motion to Dismiss Misconduct Case

An investigation into alleged violations of attorney misconduct by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen will proceed now that the profession’s Commission on Practice has rejected Knudsen’s motion to dismiss the case.

Knudsen had argued that separation of governmental powers prevents the judicial branch from disciplining the attorney general over an alleged 41 violations of the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct by Knudsen and his staff. 

At the heart of the complaint is a 2021 legal battle in which the Legislature subpoenaed documents from the judicial branch. During that dispute, Knudsen’s chief deputy, the late Kris Hansen, rejected a Supreme Court order.

Knudsen and his Montana Department of Justice attorneys are accused of undermining “public confidence in the fairness and impartiality of our system of justice by attempting to evade the authority of the Montana Supreme Court.” The attorney general’s communications with the State Supreme Court are included in the complaint as evidence.

“If the respondent’s argument were to be accepted, it would emasculate the Montana Constitution’s grant of exclusive power to supervise attorneys and make the attorney general immune from the [Montana Rules of Professional Conduct], a position respondent essentially asserts but is hereby rejected,” the Commission on Practice ruled late last week.

The next step is a hearing before the Commission on Practice. Knudsen spokesperson Emilee Cantrell said the attorney general, in making his case, will include several of the arguments made in his now denied motion for summary judgment.

“We’re disappointed the commission outright ignored many of our substantive arguments on the case,” Cantrell said in an email. “The full facts will come to light at the upcoming hearing.”

As grounds for dismissing the case, Knudsen had pointed to a previous Montana Supreme Court case in which the court invalidated punishment proposed by the Judicial Standards Commission against now former Justice Daniel Shea. In the Shea case, the Supreme Court cited a violation of the separation of powers. Knudsen argues that the same separation of powers rule applies in the case brought against him by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. 

Knudsen is seeking reelection this November. His hearing is scheduled for mid-October.

This story originally appeared in the Montana Free Press, which can be found online at montanafreepress.org.