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Senate Ethics Committee adopts hybrid rules on evidence, authorizes subpoenas and schedules adjudicatory hearing
Summary
The Senate Ethics Committee approved a package of committee rules with a hybrid admissibility provision, voted to send a due-process letter to the respondent, authorized subpoenas for documents from Legislative Services Division, and set an adjudicatory hearing for March 7, 2025. Respondent counsel objected, alleging procedural unfairness and withheld audit materials.
The Montana Senate Ethics Committee on Feb. 28 adopted a set of committee rules and a hybrid evidentiary provision, approved subpoenas for documents requested in the investigation of the senator from District 43, and scheduled an adjudicatory hearing to begin on March 7, 2025.
Committee counsel Mister Carroll told the panel that the governing authorities — the Montana Constitution, joint legislative rules, Senate rules and Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure — require "adequate notice, formal charges, and a public hearing with the right to cross-examine witnesses." Carroll said the committee had provided notice by letter and scheduled a hearing consistent with those standards.
The discussion centered on subsection E10-70, the committee's rule on objection and admissibility. The panel agreed on a hybrid approach that combines the chair's authority to rule on objections with the committee's ability to overrule the chair on appeal, and also requires that, "to the extent possible,…
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