Judge orders release of body-cam footage from senator’s DUI arrest

By CHRISTINE COMPTON

Helena Independent Record

Body camera footage of a Missoula Democratic state senator’s 2025 DUI arrest in Helena, requested by a Republican political consultant, will be released, a Lewis and Clark County judge ruled May 21, saying public disclosure outweighed her right to privacy in the matter.

The roughly 34 minutes of video depicts Sen. Ellie Boldman — who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence per se on March 2, 2025 — sitting in a running vehicle on a public street downtown in the early morning hours after the Montana Democrats’ annual Mansfield Metcalf event, “apparently not orientated to her surroundings,” according to Judge Michael McMahon’s order to release the footage.

The video then shows law enforcement knocking on her door, ordering Boldman to get out of her vehicle and questioning her, all of which happens on a public street, according to the order. The footage also shows her initial blood alcohol content test and her arrest, which happened in the law enforcement center’s lobby area.

The Independent Record has not independently viewed the bodycam footage. The narrative of its contents was outlined in the order.

GOP consultant Jake Eaton in March and November 2025 had asked the Helena Police Department to release the full case file of Boldman’s arrest; her citation and mugshot were released last year but the body camera video remained private.

Boldman claimed a “heightened” privacy interest because she intended to have the conviction expunged eventually. With the city unsure whether the footage constituted confidential criminal justice information that needed to be kept private, it asked the district court for a judgment.

It would be "borderline ludicrous" to expect a public DUI offense to be "in any sense private while standing on a public roadway," McMahon wrote in Thursday’s order.

“(An) onlooker could have easily watched and recorded the entire public DUI investigation,” the document states. “All of these facts were all inherently open and public events.”

The city attorney’s office confirmed it received the order and will comply, city spokesperson Amanda Opitz said Friday morning.

Eaton celebrated the decision Thursday.

“It is shameful that it took 15 months and thousands of dollars in legal fees to get the City of Helena to release obviously public information,” Eaton said. “That Sen. Boldman fought their release is even more disappointing than the city's actions.”

Boldman said she wasn’t afraid of public scrutiny and took accountability for her DUI within 24 hours by pleading guilty. She said she was open to releasing all material but the body cam footage because she considered Eaton a “partisan hack” who would use it for political bullying.

“He’s not a legitimate news outlet or media outlet,” Boldman said.

In a follow-up email to the Independent Record, she said the “records request was never really about the public’s right to know.”

“It’s disappointing that Sen. Boldman would choose to attack me rather than take responsibility for behavior,” Eaton said in response. “Her conduct throughout this situation demonstrates a true lack of character. Montanans of all political stripes should expect better from our elected officials.”

After Eaton first asked for the case file in March 2025, a second request would be placed in November by Jones Law Firm, run by Eaton’s wife, Billings attorney Emily Jones. Her firm sent the request on behalf of a nonprofit of which Eaton is the president and Jones the registered agent who performs clerical work.

That second request argued Boldman’s behavior should be open to public scrutiny in the same way Republican state Sen. Jason Ellsworth was scrutinized for a 2021 arrest in which he invoked the attorney general in an attempt to get out of a traffic stop.

Boldman argued in court filings that Eaton, a political operative for several high-profile Republicans including Attorney General Austin Knudsen and western congressional district candidate Aaron Flint, should not be granted access to those records for what she expected would be a harassment campaign against her.

The city asked a Lewis and Clark County District Court judge for a declaratory judgment on whether the body camera video should be released, which McMahon agreed to take up in April.

In his Thursday order, McMahon found Boldman’s right to privacy did not outweigh the public’s right to know and that her public trust position as a state senator was a factor.

McMahon ordered the first 34 minutes and 46 seconds of officer body camera footage be released to the Montana Public Policy Center, the nonprofit Jones represented that Eaton runs. However, the footage will be cut off when Boldman leaves the detention center’s lobby.

Yes, the footage may be embarrassing and could be used to ridicule Boldman, McMahon said, but much of the incident could reasonably have been seen by a bystander, and a DUI is a direct affront to public safety.

“This Court finds that Ms. (Boldman) occupies a public trust position, and her DUI conviction directly bears upon her position,” McMahon wrote. “The merits of public disclosure of the police officer’s body cam video involving the public DUI investigation are, if anything, heightened because of her position.

“However, in consideration of all relevant circumstances, the body camera footage in the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center does not merit public disclosure as it does not relate to Ms. (Boldman’s) ability to perform her duties as a State Senator.”

McMahon added that expungement of the charge, which could not happen until 2030, cannot be presumed if the offense is a DUI, per state law.

Helena will be required to strip the footage of private information, such as Social Security and driver’s license numbers, before it is released. The hourlong unredacted version will be filed under seal on the chance of an appeal, and all parties will be required to pay their own legal costs.