HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The Hill County Commission convened for their weekly business meeting on Thursday and announced that the new Hill County Attorney would be sworn in on Monday morning.
The Commission did not provide the name of the appointment and did not provide any public notice for the vote, potentially in violation of state law.
Current interim County Attorney Brian Lilletvedt has tendered his resignation, effective Monday morning.
However, the Commission says Lilletvedt is willing to continue serving in a Deputy County Attorney role if until at least one is appointed, provided the new County Attorney approves the arrangement. However, the Commission says Lilletvedt has signaled his intent to retire by the end of February.
Lilletvedt was sworn in as Hill County Attorney on October 25th, one day after then-County Attorney Karen Alley’s resignation took effect.
Hill County’s only Deputy Attorney at the time, R. Tim Jeffrey, resigned in early November.
With a lack of Attorneys, Hill County has had to rely on Special Prosecutorial Assistance from local attorneys and the Montana Attorney General’s Office for numerous cases over the last few months.
Other action taken or items discussed at the meeting:
- The re-appointments of Max Vogel to the Havre-Hill County Airport Board and Lynda Taplin to the Historic Preservation Commission. Both terms expire at the end of November 2023
- The Commission said they are working with the remaining Great Northern Fair Board members to finish up the process of appointing new members, and hope to do so before the Board’s scheduled meeting on December 21st
- Clerk and Recorder Susan Armstrong asked the Commission if they have made a decision on whether to use the ClearGov budget program that she has advocated for along with Treasurer Sandy Brown. Commission Chair Diane McLean said that they would not be using this program, as they didn’t feel like it was the best use of County funds. Armstrong said she understands the decision, but voiced frustration that the Commission had not gotten back to her in the past month since the issue was initially tabled
