The Latest: Judge rules Montana lawmaker can stay in office

HELENA, Mont. – The Latest on a lawmaker facing penalties for violating Montana campaign finance laws (all times local):

2:00 p.m. p.m.

A judge has ruled a Montana legislator can remain in office after a jury found the lawmaker took illegal corporate contributions during his 2010 primary election campaign.

District Judge Ray Dayton made his ruling Friday during a hearing in Anaconda for Republican Rep. Art Wittich of Bozeman.

Dayton fined Wittich more than $68,000 after jurors found he took took $19,599 in illegal and unreported contributions from groups affiliated with the National Right to Work Committee. The contributions included campaign consulting, voter data, direct mail and opposition research.

Montana law prohibits candidates from accepting contributions from corporations, and candidates must report all in-kind contributions they receive.

Wittich’s attorneys had argued he no longer holds the Senate seat he ran for in 2010, and he shouldn’t be removed from a House seat whose election wasn’t in question.

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1:30 a.m.

A state judge is expected to decide whether to remove a Bozeman legislator from office for taking illegal corporate campaign contributions.

District Judge Ray Dayton plans to decide the penalties for Republican Rep. Art Wittich during a court hearing in Anaconda on Friday.

In April, a jury found that Wittich took nearly $20,000 in illegal contributions from groups affiliated with the National Right to Work Committee during his 2010 primary election campaign.

Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl is asking Dayton to remove Wittich from his final months in office and to order the legislator to pay $144,900 in damages.

Wittich lost his re-election bid in the June 7 primary elections. His attorneys argue that Wittich can’t be removed from his current House seat for wrongdoing in the 2010 election for a Senate seat.