Montana Senate President Jason Ellsworth steered no-bid state contract to close associate

In the final days of December 2024, Montana Senate President Jason Ellsworth (R-Hamilton) signed a $170,100 no-bid contract for legislative bill-tracking services with Agile Analytics, a company owned by his longtime friend and former business partner Bryce Eggleston. Ellsworth split the payment into two invoices to keep each below the $100,000 threshold that triggers Department of Administration review and competitive-bidding requirements, using leftover funds from a special judicial-reform committee he controlled as Senate President before the funds expired at year's end. He told the Department of Administration director that a Senate oversight committee had approved hiring the firm, a claim a committee member later denied.

A Montana Legislative Auditor investigation, opened after an anonymous fraud-hotline complaint, concluded the arrangement "constitute[d] an abuse of his government position" and found that Ellsworth had already signed the agreement with Eggleston before bringing it to state officials, presenting them with a binding contract that circumvented the review process entirely. Facing public disclosure of the audit's findings, Ellsworth announced on Jan. 20, 2025 that he was backing off the contract, saying it had produced no services and that Eggleston's company wanted out of the deal.

Updates

2025-12-19 — Montana Attorney General's Office charged Ellsworth with official misconduct [3]

The Montana Attorney General's Office filed an official-misconduct charge against Ellsworth on Dec. 19, 2025, following a Division of Criminal Investigation probe, and asked the court to suspend him from office pending judgment. The charge carries a fine of up to $500 and up to six months in jail; a conviction could also require Ellsworth to forfeit his Senate seat.

2026-06-11 — Judge rejected Ellsworth's legislative-immunity defense [4, 5]

A Lewis and Clark County District Court judge ruled on June 11, 2026 that legislative immunity does not shield Ellsworth from prosecution over the contract, rejecting defense arguments built around blaming his business associate for drafting the deal.

2026-07-14 — Ellsworth's criminal trial began in state district court [6, 7]

Ellsworth's criminal trial on the official-misconduct charge opened July 14, 2026 in Lewis and Clark County District Court. In the trial's first week, Department of Administration Director Misty Ann Giles and Gov. Osmundson's budget director testified about being pressured to rush approval of Ellsworth's contracts.