City of Helena provides new report on controversial resolution

HELENA, Mont. - The city of Helena has released a new report about a controversial resolution during Monday night’s commission meeting.

“Tasha Jones submitted to Attorney General Knudsen on Wednesday April 1 the letter and draft resolution that were in your materials and posted publicly with this update. The letter invites collaboration and requests a response within 14 days as to whether the proposed revisions to the resolution address their concerns,” said Matthew Petesch, Helena assistant city attorney.  The letter Petesch is talking about resolution 21062. Attorney General Austin Knudsen stated Helena's resolution about law enforcement breaks Montana law, saying it could limit compliance with immigration enforcement. Some in Helena's city government say their policy does not break state law.The city has not received a response from the AG’s office, but NonStop Local did reach out to the Attorney General and we got a response stating, “We received the letter and we will let you know when we have more to share.” This all started back in January when the city commission passed a resolution banning the local police department from entering a federal partnership with ice. That policy was rescinded two weeks ago after Attorney General Knudsen and Governor Greg Gianforte announced the Montana Department of Justice would be launching a formal investigation into the city because the new resolution violated Montana state law banning sanctuary cities. Now while this means we're still at an impasse, we do know Helena city attorneys will work with the city clerk to schedule a time if there are any further decision points to discuss with commissioners.