Montana Supreme Court Justice Laurie McKinnon is facing a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment of emergency personnel stemming from a November traffic stop in Broadwater County, a case that has drawn added scrutiny because of her public comments and separate, pending ethics complaints.
McKinnon, 66, was cited after a Broadwater County sheriff’s deputy alleged she failed to slow to the speed required under a state law governing how motorists must pass emergency vehicles. She entered a not guilty plea during an initial court appearance on Dec. 8 and has elected to represent herself, according to court records.
According to McKinnon, the incident occurred between Townsend and The Silos near Canyon Ferry, where two law enforcement vehicles were involved in an active traffic stop. One patrol car was positioned behind a stopped vehicle and another was positioned ahead of it. McKinnon has said she believed one of the patrol cars was partially in the roadway and over the white fog line, prompting her to slow and move into the left lane to pass safely before returning to the right lane to avoid oncoming traffic. After doing so, the forward patrol car initiated a stop.
Under the statute most recently amended by the Legislature in 2023, drivers who are able to change lanes when passing an emergency vehicle must slow to 30 miles per hour below the posted speed limit, or to half the speed limit if they cannot change lanes. In this case, the deputy reported marking McKinnon’s vehicle at 60 miles per hour in the right-hand lane, where the law required a speed of 35 miles per hour.
McKinnon has indicated she was unaware of the specific statutory change, arguing that the requirement is difficult for drivers to know without consulting the Montana Code and that her actions were based on common-sense driving to avoid a patrol car she believed was encroaching into the roadway. Court records indicate this is her first citation for the offense. If convicted, she faces a potential fine of $100 to $500 and up to 90 days in jail.
Beyond the traffic case itself, McKinnon’s public explanations to media outlets have raised questions in light of the Montana Code of Judicial Conduct. The code generally prohibits judges from making public statements that could reasonably be expected to affect the outcome or fairness of a pending or impending matter, or from making commitments inconsistent with the impartial performance of judicial duties. It also restricts judges from allowing staff or others under their direction to make statements the judge would be barred from making, while permitting limited responses to media allegations and commentary when a judge is a litigant in a personal capacity.
The episode comes as McKinnon has pending ethics complaints in an unrelated matter. After those complaints were filed, she released a lengthy public statement to the Daily Montanan asserting that the allegations against her were baseless, partisan, and intended to intimidate and silence a member of the state’s highest court. In that statement, she framed the complaints as part of broader attacks on the judiciary and linked them to constitutional challenges before the court involving statutes supported by the complainant, Republican State Senator Barry Usher.
The reckless endangerment case remains pending in Broadwater County, where McKinnon is expected to appear in court on January 20th.