Gallatin County Dispute Over ICE Records Policy Faces April 6th Deadline

BOZEMAN, Mont. — A dispute in Bozeman over whether ICE agents should be treated as law enforcement under Montana law has moved closer to an April 6 deadline.  

Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell released a statement on Thursday night in response to a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Gallatin County Records Department for confidential criminal justice information about a civil matter.  

On Thursday night, Attorney General Austin Knudsen also released a statement disputing her office's position.  

The situation stems from emails sent in late September and early October of 2025.  

Those messages involved ICE asking the Gallatin County Records Department for confidential criminal justice information tied to an individual involved in a civil matter.  

In the press release, the county attorney’s office says that after legal review from the civil division of the County Attorney’s office, the office determined that in this instance, ICE was not acting as a criminal justice agency under Montana law.  

According to Montana law, a criminal justice agency is defined as a governmental agency authorized by law to perform the administration of criminal justice.  

Knudsen says he has personally reviewed the emails that were sent back in September and October of 2025.  

He argues that the policy of Cromwell not recognizing ICE as a legitimate law enforcement agency was not limited to a single case.  

“What I can tell you is, I’ve personally seen the email from the county attorney’s office stating unequivocally, that this is not a one-off policy, that it is the policy of County Attorney Cromwell’s office, that ICE is not a legitimate law enforcement agency, that they are not authorized to receive confidential criminal justice information, and that is just patently, number one its patently false, but number two, she doesn’t have that authority to make that determination,” said Austin Knudsen, attorney general for the state of Montana.  

In response, Knudsen is demanding that Cromwell rescind what he described as her ICE policy and release the confidential criminal justice information that ICE was requesting.  

The attorney general has given Cromwell until the deadline of April 6th, 2026, to do so.  

“So, I can tell you I’ve got a couple arrows in my quiver. We do have the force of state law on our side. I’m not one to make idle threats, so I mean, if she wants to try to play games with that, I guess she can see what happens,” said Knudsen.  

While Cromwell declined Nonstop Local’s request for an interview in this matter, officials with Cromwell’s team say that she plans to release a formal statement to the Attorney General by the April 6th deadline.