HELENA — A lawsuit filed this week is seeking to challenge a new policy at the Montana Legislature that restricts who can access certain documents about proposed bills.
Plaintiffs, including two individuals and the Montana Environmental Information Center, asked a state district court judge in Great Falls to stop the Legislative Services Division from implementing its new policy on so-called “junque files.”
Legislative Services maintains junque files for each proposed bill. They can include things like records on how a bill was drafted, changes to the language and emails between lawmakers and legislative staff, lobbyists and other stakeholders.
Derf Johnson, deputy director of MEIC, says junque files have been available to the public since a 1995 court decision.
“This is a benefit to the people of Montana, in terms of assuring that their government is acting in good faith, that they're doing so in the best interest of the people of Montana, and not in the interests of any private citizens or private corporations, etc.,” he said.
However, Legislative Services has created a new policy, based on a court decision from earlier this year. That ruling, by District Judge Chris Abbott of Helena, said that many documents and communications related to bill drafting are protected from disclosure as part of “legislative privilege,” which protects lawmakers from being questioned in court about the legislative process.
In response to that decision, Legislative Services said they would only make junque files public if the lawmaker signs a waiver.
Johnson argued these files should be open to the public under the Montana Constitution’s guarantee of the public’s right to know, and that this change would make it harder to hold leaders accountable.
“It should be open to everybody, regardless of your political persuasion – that's the whole point,” he said. “This is letting everybody know and be on the same level of information, so that we can assure that our government is acting accordingly and in the interest of the people. Whether you're Democrat or Republican, independent, Libertarian, Green, you should be able to know what the government is doing as a Montana citizen.”
The start of the 2025 legislative session is only two months away. Johnson said plaintiffs are hoping the case will move forward quickly, so they can get some kind of ruling before that time.
“What we want to make sure is that Montana citizens continue to have access to these documents during that legislative process,” he said.
MTN reached out to Jerry Howe, executive director of the Legislative Services Division, who is listed as a defendant. He declined to comment on the lawsuit.
