Montana Senate Ethics Committee subpoenas DMV records, sets March 7 adjudicatory hearing amid defense objections

The Montana Senate Ethics Committee voted unanimously to request additional documentary records — including motor vehicle division files tied to two Stevensville addresses — and set an adjudicatory hearing to begin March 7, 2025, with an expectation to try to conclude business by about 4:00 p.m. that day.

The subpoena request, moved by Vice Chair Senator McGilvray, asks the Motor Vehicle Division of the Department of Justice and the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for a list of all persons who applied for licenses using the residential addresses 4676 Donaldson Drive, Stevensville, Montana 59870, or 305 Mission Street, Stevensville, Montana 59870 since 2013, “with all personally identifying information other than names and dates of application redacted,” according to the motion read into the record. The committee directed staff to prepare a subpoena document after the voice vote.

The committee also voted, on a motion by Senator McGilvray, to set an adjudicatory hearing to begin on 03/07/2025 and to “try to wrap up around 04:00 on the seventh,” language the committee asked staff to place into the draft notice. Special Counsel Dirk explained the hearing notice incorporates the legislative auditor’s memorandum (01/24/2025) as an…