Ellsworth found guilty of official misconduct in criminal trial

HELENA — Former Montana Senate president Jason Ellsworth was found guilty of official misconduct – a misdemeanor – on Tuesday evening in Lewis and Clark District Court in Helena.  

He could face a $500 fine or as many as six months in jail. 

Sentencing is scheduled at 3 p.m. Sept. 10.

As the unanimous verdict from 12 jurors was read, Ellsworth bowed his head slightly before staring ahead. Neither he nor his lawyers offered comments to the media after the trial, and neither did state prosecutors. 

Ellsworth was found guilty of circumventing the state’s normal contracting process and trying to steer more than $100,000 of work to a close associate. That work included tracking bills from the Senate Select Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform ahead of the 2025 Legislative Session. The two initial contracts for the work totaled more than $100,000, which should have triggered additional scrutiny and a bidding process. 

On Tuesday afternoon, both sides made their closing remarks to the jury, which began deliberation around 3:40 p.m.

“Public office is a public trust, not a personal favor,” state attorney Stephanie Robles said in the prosecution’s closing arguments. “Taxpayer money belongs to the public. Procurement laws exist to protect everyone equally. The defendant doesn’t get to decide when those laws apply. When someone uses their public office to benefit a friend, they betray that trust.”

Ellsworth’s attorneys, meanwhile, said he was not trained on state contracting procedures, had asked for help, went through proper procedures and that ultimately the contract was approved by the state after the two agreements merged into one.

They told the jury that Ellsworth was unaware he was doing anything wrong, and that if the contract was illegal, the state should have cancelled it. Defense attorneys pointed out that a number of state employees worked on the contracts and approved them. 

An attorney for the State of Montana characterized it differently, saying they were trying to “fix” the contract problem and were trying to protect taxpayers, said Daniel Guzynski, who gave the state’s rebuttal to the defense.

He added that they had to do that because “of the egregious position that the senator put everybody in.”

Eventually, the contract was cancelled when the body started investigating it.

No money was paid on the contract. 

Ellsworth’s attorneys have also said he was within his power as Senate president to spend the money and execute the contracts. Defense attorneys have also said rushing to spend the funds was warranted because if they weren’t spent, they would go back to the Governor’s Office in just several days’ time.

Ellsworth was also traveling during much of the time leading up to the contracts. He didn’t return back to Montana until Dec. 24, 2024, about a week before the money would revert to the Governor’s Office. Ellsworth’s attorney said it was critical to cinch up the project because the  Senate Select Committee on Judicial Oversight had been given $500,000 for work on judicial reform and Ellsworth wanted to spend the money, his attorneys said.

“The state’s trying to make this out like this is some fun kickback contract. Just for funsies, and we’re going to give somebody some money. That’s not what this is at all,” said Martin Judnich, a defense attorney for Ellsworth. “This was a very serious contract about an issue that was extremely important to the Montana Senate.”

That committee put forth 27 bills during the 2025 Legislative session, many of them controversial and, along with property tax, became the major discussion point of the Montana Legislature.