BOZEMAN — A disagreement between state and local officials is brewing in Gallatin County — centered around how local agencies respond to requests from immigration and customs enforcement (ICE).
On Thursday, according to a press release from the Montana Department of Justice, Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell a letter demanding she revoke a policy.
Knudsen said the letter refuses to recognize ICE as a criminal justice agency.
However, the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office said there is no policy in Gallatin County prohibiting cooperation or information sharing with ICE.
Gallatin County Commissioner Zach Brown said: "In this case, the politics around immigration and ICE are very loaded, so it’s drawing this attention," he explained. "But this kind of stuff happens all the time.”
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Commissioner Brown said there is no policy in Gallatin County restricting information from being shared with federal agencies, including ICE.
“This kind of inter-agency, collaboration within the criminal justice system happens all the time," said Brown.
Brown added, this came up after an email surfaced that was sent in October by Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell’s executive assistant.
According to Knudsen, the email stated that the Gallatin County’s Attorney Office does not legally recognize ICE as a law enforcement agency that should receive confidential criminal justice information.
According to Cromwell, the email was in reference to information about a person in a civil case and it was determined that ice was not acting as a criminal justice agency.
Brown said people interpreted that as a policy or guidance, but, its not.
“This kind of thing about information sharing and figuring out how to make legally protected criminal justice information available to other agencies when they request it, is a really routine function."
In the Montana Department of Justice press release, Attorney General Knudsen said Cromwell has until April 6 to rescind the policy.
Leaders in Helena faced a similar warning after passing a resolution about how and when Helena police should operate with agencies like ICE.
The Attorney General said the resolution violated Montana law prohibiting sanctuary cities. the city of Helena eventually cancelled the resolution.
In Gallatin County, Commissioner Brown said...
“As a very important part of the criminal justice system, we operate according to the law with all of our external agencies," he explained. "Whether it’s the state of Montana, the highway patrol, ICE, or border patrol.”
