BUTTE, Mont. — In local elections, there are few races more important than county attorney. This is a position that handles criminal prosecutions and advises officials on other legal matters.

And in Butte, it is the candidates themselves who are in the legal spotlight.

“Many signs have disappeared this year. Everyone calls it the sign war,” said Matt Enrooth, candidate for Butte-Silver Bow County district attorney.

This all came to the fore on October 24, when Acting Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Prosecutor Matt Enrooth posted a message on his campaign page stating that some signs had been placed without permission and that A business owner has requested that the unauthorized signs be removed.

“This is a county ordinance that requires us to ask the owner or occupant of the property for permission to post a sign. So we put out a generic message to remind all applicants,” Enrooth said.

The same day, Enrooth’s opponent, Acting Butte-Silver Bow County Prosecutor Kelli Fivey, also posted on Facebook, sharing images showing Enrooth removing his sign from the front of the Freeway Tavern, along with additional footage showing him in a dumpster.

Fivey writes that this is considered theft, calling it “disheartening and absolutely unbelievable.”

Enrooth tells NBC Montana he removed the sign, but insists he received permission from bar owner Kathy Faroni to remove it at this time and whether it is ever put back up .

“So, Kathy asked me to take down the sign. We took it apart, no big deal, put it in the back and life went on,” Enrooth said.

I contacted Fivey for an interview, and she declined, saying the matter had been turned over to law enforcement and she was focused on ending the campaign on a positive note.

In a Facebook post on October 25, Fivey said she had permission to place the sign, apologized for the unnecessary attention it brought to the Freeway Tavern and did not have the intention to start a war on Facebook.

Enrooth questions how and where the camera was placed and whether it might have violated privacy rights under the Montana Constitution.

“As acting county attorney, you installed a game camera on what looks like a street light pole, I think, and pointed it at a bar? » said Enrooth.

I sent Fivey a list of questions, including where the camera was placed, whether she had legal permission to install it, and whether she used her office resources in this investigation. I did not receive a response.

I also contacted Butte-Silver Bow Ed Lester to confirm if there was an active investigation and he declined to comment.

I also left several messages for Kathi Faroni, owner of Freeway Tavern, but she did not respond. And without his perspective, the question of who is telling the truth remains unanswered.

Enrooth says he was not contacted by law enforcement and if he could have done it all over again, he would have handled things differently.

“After seeing the devastation caused by something so simple. (I would have said) Kathy, take it off, if there’s a problem, Kathy, go press charges,” Enrooth said.

Enrooth and Fivey were separated by only 18 votes out of more than 10,000 votes cast in the primary, so this race has the potential to be fierce, and we’ll be sure to keep you updated.