Former Montana Senate President Ellsworth charged with official misconduct over no-bid contract

Former Montana Senate President Faces Misconduct Charges Over Contract Award

Former Republican state Senate President Jason Ellsworth will face misdemeanor official misconduct charges for allegedly attempting to steer $171,100 in government contracts to a longtime friend and business associate, according to the Montana Department of Justice.

State prosecutors announced the charges Thursday and requested that the court suspend Ellsworth from serving until judgment is issued. The Hamilton lawmaker is already facing term limits preventing him from seeking re-election next year and doesn’t serve on any interim committees, meaning a suspension would have minimal practical effect during the final year of his term when the Legislature isn’t scheduled to meet.

The charge follows earlier disciplinary action by his colleagues. In April, the Montana Senate banned Ellsworth from the Senate floor for life and barred him from committee participation for ethics violations related to the same contracting issue.

Official misconduct carries a potential maximum sentence of six months in jail. Ellsworth could not be reached for comment Thursday, though he has previously denied any wrongdoing in the matter.

Ellsworth’s political standing had already diminished before the charges. While he served as Senate president in 2023, his fellow senators chose Kalispell Republican Sen. Matt Regier over him for the 2025 legislative session that began in January.

According to charging documents filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court, the investigation began when Regier told investigators he learned in early January that Ellsworth had contracted with a friend to track proposed legislation related to Republicans’ long-running efforts to address alleged bias in the state court system.

The subsequent chain of events highlights the fractured relationships within the state’s Republican leadership. A March ethics investigation by the Senate revealed that Regier and legislative aide Rhonda Knudsen submitted a tip to the government fraud hotline operated by the state’s Legislative auditor. Knudsen is the mother of state Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who heads the Department of Justice now bringing charges against Ellsworth.

The Legislative Audit Division’s investigation, completed in January, concluded that Ellsworth attempted to circumvent procurement regulations by splitting work awarded to Bryce Eggleston into two contracts to avoid the $100,000 threshold that would have required competitive bidding. The combined contracts totaled $170,100. Eggleston, a former employee of Ellsworth’s magazine subscription business, ultimately declined the work in January before the investigation concluded.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly (44-6) to censure Ellsworth in April. In a separate February vote, the body referred the matter for criminal investigation to the Department of Justice.

The case reflects deep divisions within the Republican caucus. In a statement released Thursday, Regier noted that Republican leadership attempted three times to expel Ellsworth from the Senate entirely but couldn’t secure the required two-thirds majority. Nine Republicans joined Democrats in opposing expulsion during a March vote.

“I applaud Attorney General Austin Knudsen for taking corruption in government seriously,” Regier said in his statement.

The charges against Ellsworth come amid increasing scrutiny of government contracting practices and ethics standards for elected officials in Montana. The case highlights tensions between accountability mechanisms and political allegiances within the state’s dominant Republican party.

The story was originally reported by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.