A Lewis and Clark District Court judge ruled Wednesday that two Republican legislators can remain on the November ballot, blocking an attorney general opinion that would have barred them from running. Judge Christopher Abbott granted a preliminary injunction, finding that Rep. Llew Jones of Conrad and Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick of Great Falls would not violate Montana’s term limits if elected.
The ruling came hours before the secretary of state’s deadline to certify ballots. The Montana Attorney General’s office immediately appealed to the state Supreme Court, which denied a request for an administrative stay the same afternoon.
The Term Limits Dispute
The legal clash centers on how Montana’s 1992 voter-approved term limit restrictions apply to legislators seeking to return after service elsewhere in the Capitol. Under the law, lawmakers can serve a maximum of eight years in any chamber within a 16-year period.
Jones, who has served continuously in the Legislature since 2005, spent his last eight years in the House before filing to run for the state Senate this year. Fitzpatrick faced similar eligibility questions. The pair sued Attorney General Austin Knudsen and the secretary of state after Knudsen issued a legal opinion last week interpreting the term limits rules.
Knudsen’s opinion would have required legislators who had completed eight years of service to sit out an election cycle before returning to the chamber. The reasoning followed from a stricter reading of the 16-year measuring period and what constitutes a break in service.
A Shift From Earlier Guidance
The new opinion departed from long-standing legal precedent. From shortly after voters approved term limits in 1992 until 2012, a prior attorney general opinion allowed legislators to return after an eight-year break without sitting out an election. Then-Attorney General Steve Bullock issued the 2012 opinion that remained in effect until Knudsen’s recent reversal.
Senate President Matt Regier specifically requested the legal opinion from Knudsen regarding Jones’ eligibility—a request that came after Jones won the Republican primary for Senate District 9.
Judge Abbott’s ruling found that applying the new interpretation mid-campaign, after Jones and Fitzpatrick had won their primaries, would be unfair. As Jones told reporters, “The Judge put it pretty cleanly – you don’t move the goalposts in the middle of the game.”, as first reported by the Daily Montanan
Fitzpatrick expressed similar sentiment about the outcome. “Nonetheless, it’s a relief to see that we did prevail, and I think it’s over with,” he said.
What Comes Next
The attorney general’s office appealed Abbott’s decision to the Montana Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the preliminary injunction. The high court’s denial of an emergency stay request suggests it may be unlikely to fast-track the case before the November election. The timing makes it difficult for any ruling to affect ballot preparation, though the court could still rule on the merits of the term limits question after Election Day.
The case highlights a broader tension over how term limits should be enforced when circumstances—including changes in attorney general leadership and interpretation—shift during an election cycle. It also illustrates the potential for legal disputes to affect candidate eligibility in a competitive statewide environment, particularly with high-profile races like the Montana GOP’s recent selection process for Senate District 9 and other legislative contests shaping the balance of power in Helena.
