Attorney General Knudsen invokes supervisory control over Gallatin County Attorney’s Office

HELENA – Attorney General Austin Knudsen invoked supervisory control over Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell, following her failure to follow the law and issue a memorandum clarifying that Gallatin County may share confidential criminal justice information (CCJI) with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for civil immigration enforcement functions.

On April 2, Attorney General Knudsen sent a letter to Cromwell demanding she rescind her unlawful policy refusing to recognize ICE as a “criminal justice agency” and share CCJI with them. She has since doubled down on her policy by refusing to do so.

“The cognitive dissonance in your reply is astounding.  You have now sworn under oath that there is no policy regarding sharing CCJI with ICE. Yet you also maintain that, under your novel interpretation of Montana law, Gallatin County will not share CCJI with ICE for civil immigration enforcement purposes without a court order.  Both things cannot be true,” Attorney General Knudsen wrote.

Attorney General Knudsen is exercising limited supervisory control over Cromwell’s office, directing her to:

• Share confidential criminal justice information with ICE for all lawful purposes, including civil administration immigration matters.
• Produce all documents, records, and communications related to the matter and specified in Attorney General Knudsen’s April 30 letter.

Cromwell has 30 days to produce the records.