(Attorney Generals Office) Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen issued an Attorney General’s Opinion (AGO) holding that felons placed in Warm Springs, the Montana State Hospital (MSH), for psychiatric treatment are prohibited from voting just as their counterparts serving prison sentences in other correctional facilities.
The AGO, which carries the weight of law in Montana according to Knudsen, was issued after a request from Lake County Attorney James Lapotka.
As outlined in the AGO, a person who is “serving a sentence for a felony in a penal institution” is ineligible to vote, which includes felons serving time at Warm Springs as they are still in confined status.
