On August 1st, 2020, a packet of documents was deposited at the Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times office. In the enclosed documents was a copy of an email transmission from county attorney Kevin Peterson to Clerk & Recorder Cheryl Tomassi. The email was dated November 27, 2018. It was addressed to the three commissioners at the time: Robert Goffena, Tom Berry & Nicole Borner. The subject was Petition.
"The door was open in my office and Teresa heard every word of our conversation. You are lying about all of this. I told you that Burns would make an issue of your association with Lesnik as a matter of bias if this went to court and that you should be prepared for this. How in blazes does that turn in to what you said other intentional distortion and lie? I never even mentioned Carlson's name or any petition regarding Spoja in my office. I explained to you fully the conflict issues in my office that may arise down the road and what I could and could not do and none of this involved the lies your putting in print. Not a stitch of your response is true. You cannot be trusted, have no moral fiber, and certainly no integrity or character. Get your hearing checked as well since obviously, you have major issues with that. Henceforth, there will be no conversation that is not recorded by me in my office if it involves you. It is a far cry from asking for help and trying to shove your duties off on another elected official and that's all you seem to want to do. If you don't have the basic competence needed for the position, resign.”
“You will find out Cheryl that what is coming down the road upstairs in district court is going to really surprise you for what is fact and what is a lie and how you will answer the many questions regarding your conduct on election night. Your way of expressing a request for help and appreciation is simply depraved and blatant dishonesty. I'm not responding to any more of your crap and stop sending your lies out in public records."
Signed Kevin Peterson.
On March 10, 2020, Cheryl Tomassi sent this email to Peterson to clarify a specific issue.
"With the resignation of Commissioner Berry, we had people come in and file a Declaration for Nomination and they informed us that it was at your direction that they were able to file yesterday and be in the primary election. Please advise me on which code was used for the information so that we are all on the same page." Peterson's response, dated March 10, 2020.
"My office neither directed anyone in the manner you describe in your email to file for office, nor did my office provide a legal opinion concluding filing by a partisan candidate was in accordance with statute. No legal opinions were provided to anyone regarding filing for Mr. Berry's vacant seat."
"Apparently your office accepted the filings since no information to the contrary has been provided. There was no inquiry by the Election Administrator made to the County Attorney on or before March 9, 2020 regarding filing for election for Mr. Berry's vacated position by (a) partisan candidate(s). If the filings were accepted and filed based on unconfirmed representations of the public, this is an issue for the Election Administrator to manage."
"As Election Administrator, it is your responsibility to handle the matter presented to your office. That means reviewing the statutes concerning vacancies and the procedures to fill it. If you cannot arrive at an answer, the public would expect you to contact the Secretary of State to determine if this issue has come up before and if so, how was it resolved. If it has not been addressed, then a next step must be taken. If, as Election Administrator, you act now to reject the filings based on your analysis, it is up to you as the Election Administrator to justify your reasons for the decision.” Peterson then confuses the issue more by providing three additional pages of Montana Code to Ms Tomassi.
A search of the County Attorney’s web page has highlighted in Title 7, Chapter 4, Part 27: County Attorney To Be Legal Adviser of County And other Subdivisions: 7-4-2711; (2) The county attorney shall: (a) give, when required and without fee, an opinion in writing to the county, district, and township officers on matters relating to the duties of their respective offices: (b) act as counsel, without fee, for fire districts and fire service areas in unincorporated territories, towns, or villages within the county.
On March 11, 2019, Billings Gazette submitted the following request. The letter addressed to the county commissioners and Peterson. "I am writing to request the release of information regarding a three-year-old who drowned in your county at the beginning of the year.”
“Repeated attempts were made to Sheriff Lesnik to obtain the identity of the child after the death was confirmed. Lesnik refused to turn over the record from his department. ... By law, after a death certificate is issued, names become a public record. There is no discretionary exceptions and no exceptions for minors. Moreover, in practice, most Montana agencies release names after the next-of-kin has been notified. ... "We would point out that Montana Code Annotated 50-15-122(5)(a) provides that once the record of the death is filed with vital statistic, usually a death certificate, "the fact that a birth or death has occurred may be released without restriction." Signed Darrell Ehrlick, Editor, Billings Gazette.
On March 20, 2019, Peterson sent this letter to Sheriff Lesnik.
"I am writing to provide you a copy of a complaint my office received from the Billings Gazette. The Complaint essentially states that the BG has made repeated public information requests to your office and that you as the elected official, have refused to provide the information requested.”
“Based upon the BG's statements, I am providing the following statutory requirement that pertains to refusals to provide public information. ... The public's right to know is stringently protected and enforced by the courts and should equally be championed by local government as well as state government. Your office has an obligation to respond to the request from the Billings Gazette.”
Signed by Kevin Peterson.
On March 25, 2019, Sheriff Lesnik provided this response to Mr. Peterson.
"I am responding to your letter regarding the "complaint" that you requested and was received by your office, dated Wednesday, March 11, 2019."
"I would refer you to the Montana Code Annotated Statute ... Immediately upon the filing of a record with the department, the fact that a birth or death has occurred may be released to the public without restriction."
"The first and ONLY request made of me by Billings Gazette reporter Sam Wilson occurred on January 7th 2019. Mr. Wilson contacted the Musselshell County Dispatch center on the 7th of January and left a message requesting the name of the deceased child. ... I advised Mr. Wilson that I was going to respect the request of the deceased child's family and not release the child's name or date of birth. I advised Mr. Wilson that he would be free to obtain the death certificate from the Musselshell County Clerk and Recorder or from Vital Statistics for the State of Montana once it was filed."
"The death certificate was filed with the State of Montana on the 7th day of February 2019. At no time since that date has any employee of the Billings Gazette made a request of me or the Musselshell County Sheriff's Office for the name of the child."
"Lastly, I would like to address the origin of this "complaint". On the 15th day of March 2019, I spoke with the Billings Gazette Editor Darrell Ehrlick at length about the issue at hand. During the conversation, Mr. Ehrlick stated you, the Musselshell County Attorney Kevin Peterson, had in-fact requested the Billings Gazette file this formal complaint against me."
"Mr. Peterson, you have continually used your position as the Musselshell County Attorney to manufacture complaints that attack me, both personally and professionally. I would request that you avoid such behavior in the future. The continued personal animus is counterproductive to common goals our two elected offices share."
Signed Shawn Lesnik
As of August 10, 2020, Mr. Peterson has not responded.
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