Montana Senate Convening Ethics Committee to Investigate its Former President 

The Montana Senate will conduct an ethics investigation into a $170,100 government contract brokered late last year by former Senate President Jason Ellsworth with his business associate. 

The Senate voted unanimously Monday to assemble a bipartisan Ethics Committee to investigate the agreement between Ellsworth and Bryce Eggleston, of Stevensville. Senate leaders say they have questions not only for Ellsworth, a Hamilton Republican, but also state Department of Administration Director Misty Ann Giles.

Giles, during an investigation by the Legislative Auditor, acknowledged that the Ellsworth contract violated state law, but DOA saw the deal through, nonetheless. The investigation, released Jan. 24, concluded that Ellsworth’s actions with state funds were both wasteful and abusive. 

“There are a lot of questions that I think the Department of Administration needs to answer,” Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, told the press following the Senate vote. “In the audit they admitted to not following what is currently in the law when it comes to procurement.”

At issue is the $170,100 agreement Ellsworth brokered with Eggleston at the end of December. Ellsworth, whose tenure as Senate president was expiring, entered into an agreement in which Eggleston would track how the state put into practice several would-be laws limiting the powers of Montana courts. Limiting judicial powers is a priority this legislative session for Senate Republicans, who crafted 27 bills to do so and are expected to pass several in the coming weeks.

The terms of the agreement with Eggleston triggered several red flags with the Legislative Auditor. First, contracts over $100,000 undergo a more rigorous procurement process including competitive bidding. Ellsworth had divided the contract into two to keep below that threshold, a move the law specifically prohibits. The auditor’s investigation concluded that dividing the contracts was an abuse of power.

The Department of Administration, rather than rejecting the agreement outright, consolidated the contracts at year’s end, then put Eggleston on a payment plan. The first check was to be issued Jan. 10, even though the services the contractor was expected to offer weren’t to take place until months later. 

Regier called the work Ellsworth contracted out “simple” and said legislative staff would do it instead.

“We’re going to do this with our current staff for zero added expense,” Regier said. “Honestly, this was like using $170,000 in taxpayer money to hire a good friend to mow your yard. … And we still don’t know if that good friend even owns a lawnmower. This contract did not have work started until after the session, yet we, the Senate, have already received an invoice for over $7,000.”

Regier said nothing has been paid out. Ellsworth last week said Eggleston no longer wanted the work because of the political fallout. Eggleston has not responded to phone calls or texts from Montana Free Press.

On the Senate floor, several members of the Republican leadership team advocated for the Ethics Committee investigation, as did Democratic Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade. 

“Government transparency and integrity is a core value for my cause and for our constituents,” Flowers told lawmakers. “Montanans expect their government and particularly their elected representatives to act in the interest of the people of the state.”

Ellsworth told the chamber he, too, supports the investigation. He said questions about the contract had become a distraction. 

The Senate will also replace one member of the Ethic Committee. Sen. Sue Vinton, R-Lockwood, who was committee chair, will be replaced by Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus. Regier offered no explanation for removing Vinton, explaining that many members of the Senate were capable of doing the job.

A column by Vinton had circulated through several print publications last week, in which the then-Ethics Committee chairperson disparaged Ellsworth and accused Senate Democrats of enabling Ellsworth after Republicans voted against nominating the Hamilton Republican to a second term as Senate leader. 

At the start of the 2025 Legislature, Ellsworth and several Democrats managed to amend the Senate rules to give themselves better committee assignments, this after being relegated to a committee that members said had no clear purpose. 

How the Ethics Committee hearing will play out remains unclear. Regier said Senate leadership is working through the mechanics of a proceeding that’s almost unheard of the Legislature. One option to be considered is conducting the hearing with a prosecution and defense making arguments before a committee empaneled like a quasi-judicial body.

Regier said the Ethics Committee would meet Wednesday. He characterized its activation as the beginning of the Senate’s work on the Ellsworth matter, rather than a final action to the Legislative Auditor’s investigation from a week earlier.

The Montana Republican Party Chairman Don Kaltschmidt said in a statement Monday that the Legislative Audit Division’s findings were disturbing.

“The report raises significant issues related to the abuse of power and mismanagement of state resources, and we believe that accountability is an essential standard that needs to be in place for all elected officials,” Katlschmidt said. “No one is above the law.” 

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