LEGISLATURE WITHDRAWS JUDICIAL BRANCH SUBPOENAS

POLSON, Mont.— Senator Greg Hertz, R-Polson, announced today that the Legislature is withdrawing its subpoenas for records from Montana's Supreme Court justices and court administrator.

Hertz chairs the Legislature's Special Select Committee on Judicial Accountability and Transparency that was formed to investigate troubling conduct within the judicial branch, including the deletion of public records, failure to recuse judges who had pre-judged legislation, and questionable use of state resources.

"The Legislature's position all along has been that litigation in front of judges with inherent conflicts of interest is not the appropriate way to resolve these issues," Hertz said. "By withdrawing the current subpoenas, we are ending the lawsuits surrounding them."

"To be clear, we expect the judicial branch to release public records, the same as they have ruled the legislative and executive branches must do in numerous court rulings over the years," Hertz stated.

The decision to withdraw the subpoenas was made in consultation with the Legislature's counsel at the Montana Department of Justice. Hertz explained that withdrawing the subpoenas was the best move to advance the Select Committee's fact-finding investigation and its efforts to solve problems within the judicial branch of government:

"First we saw a judge appointed to rule on a matter that he should've been disqualified from hearing because he'd already expressed his bias against it. Then we learned that the court administrator had deleted public records that could help clarify the situation. The Supreme Court then issued an unprecedented weekend order outside of the normal judicial process to try to block the Legislature's attempt to recover those records. Until now, the Supreme Court justices were preparing to act as the judges of their own case while making charged and threatening statements toward the Legislature and our legal counsel.

Withdrawing the subpoenas gives the Court the opportunity to stop digging this hole. The Legislature preserves all means at our disposal to access public records."

Hertz noted that the Select Committee's work is far from finished.

"We're still seeking documents and information that will provide more clarity on the issues identified in our committee's Initial Report and inform legislative fixes to problems within our judicial system," Hertz said. "I look forward to working with committee members and the judicial branch as we continue this legislative investigation."