Supreme Court Declines To Suspend Knudsen

In a lengthy decision Wednesday, Dec. 31, the Montana Supreme Court rejected a recommendation Attorney General Austin Knudsen should be suspended from practice for 90 days in a professional misconduct case. The order cleared Knudsen of three professional misconduct allegations, but it found he violated two other codes of conduct.

However, the order said Knudsen’s due process rights had been violated in the case in multiple instances, as he had alleged, and the justices declined to take additional action.

“Due to the (Commission on Practice’s) violation of Knudsen’s due process guarantees, we dismiss this case without further action,” the order said.

A Supreme Court summary of the case said a six-member majority of the seven-member panel agreed with the decision to dismiss the case without suspension.

In a statement on the Department of Justice website, Knudsen thanked the Supreme Court. “I appreciate the Supreme Court bringing this frivolous complaint to a long-overdue conclusion,” Knudsen said in the statement. “We’ve said it from the very beginning, this was nothing more than a political stunt. “I’m glad this distraction is behind us as we continue our work at the Department of Justice to keep Montana the best place to live and raise a family.”

Most Supreme Court justices had recused themselves in the case, and the chief appointed district court judges to serve on the panel instead.

Heard in the Montana Supreme Court in March, the case stems from a dispute among the three different branches of government during the 2021 legislative session and allegations Knudsen improperly disparaged the court and defied court orders.

In the September 2023 complaint, the Office for Disciplinary Counsel, which handles discipline against members of the state bar, alleged Knudsen broke rules of professional conduct in 41 separate counts — allegations one of his lawyers described as a “political stunt.”

In October 2024, the Commission on Practice, which regulates the profession, found Knudsen violated five rules of the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct, and it recommended the state Supreme Court suspend him for 90 days.

In an appeal, Knudsen not only objected to the recommendations, he alleged due process violations.

In March before the state Supreme Court, Knudsen’s lawyer argued the court should dismiss the case as a “highly irregular and unprecedented one.”

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel argued Knudsen deserved to be suspended to protect the integrity of the court, which his actions would otherwise undermine.

Five members of the state high court recused themselves in the case, and Chief Justice Cory Swanson appointed five district court judges to serve, in addition to himself and Justice Katherine Bidegaray.

The judges were unanimous in their decisions on four of the five alleged violations of professional misconduct, and six members came together in the fifth allegation, according to the case summary.

“There’s an old saying in our profession that ‘bad facts make bad law,’” the order said. “This case presents an unusual accumulation of bad facts.”

The order said the case was important to address the specific allegations against Knudsen but also provide guidance for the future conduct of attorneys and disciplinary proceedings.

In addressing allegations of rule violations, the order said Knudsen breached the conduct code when he failed to comply with the Supreme Court’s order to return materials obtained by a subpoena and also directed or approved of a subordinate doing the same.

But the order also said the Office of Disciplinary Counsel failed to show Knudsen, a Republican in his second term in office, made statements that were knowingly false when he criticized the court as alleged.

“Each of his statements critical of the court was either a factual statement, which ODC failed to prove was false, or a statement of opinion,” the order said.

It also said the Office of Disciplinary Counsel failed to prove his conduct improperly influenced a court proceeding.

The order rejected the recommendation for a 90-day suspension, and a summary said the opinion should be considered a public admonition.

The decision drew immediate praise from Republican leaders in Montana including U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy and state Senate President Matt Regier of Kalispell.

“We must draw a bright line for the public between true ethical violations in government and manufactured controversies like the Office of Disciplinary Counsel and Commission on Practice’s shameful political persecution of Austin Knudsen,” Regier said in a statement provided by the Senate Republican communications director.

In a statement provided by The Political Company, Sheehy also lauded the decision.

“It’s good to see this politically- motivated complaint finally come to a just conclusion. I look forward to continuing to work alongside Attorney General Knudsen and the rest of the Montana delegation to secure a safer and more prosperous future for all Montanans,” Sheehy said in the statement.