Gallatin County attorney asks Montana court to keep case moving

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell filed a reply on June 8, 2026, in her case against Attorney General Austin Knudsen after the Montana Supreme Court ordered another round of briefing.

In that reply, Cromwell asked the court to let her claims continue. The filing, prepared by attorney Raph Graybill, argued the dispute should be decided by judges because it centers on how state law applies to requests for criminal justice information for civil use.

Cromwell’s side argued the case was not a political question and did not ask the court for a hypothetical ruling. The reply also said she had standing because the attorney general’s directive affected her work as Gallatin County’s elected attorney and her legal duties to the county.

The filing said the attorney general stepped into her office and directed her to give advice she believed was wrong. It argued that could expose her client to criminal and civil penalties tied to the improper release of CCJI.

The reply pointed to past Montana cases that it said supported judicial review when disputes involve statutory interpretation, even when those fights reach across branches of government.

One section of the filing summed up Cromwell’s position this way.

“This Court need only do what it does every day: answer a straightforward question of statutory interpretation and declare what Montana law requires,” the brief said.