Laslovich Residency Questioned

Legislator’s residency in question
By Mike Dennison, Standard State Bureau - 06/06/2008
HELENA — The Republican speaker of the Montana House is questioning whether state Sen. Jesse Laslovich, D-Anaconda, is a legal resident of the district where Laslovich is running for re-election.
On Thursday, House Speaker Scott Sales asked Attorney General Mike McGrath for a formal opinion on whether Laslovich, who lives and works in Helena, is a resident of Senate District 43, the Anaconda-Deer Lodge district he represents.
Laslovich works in Helena as an assistant attorney general, doing legal work for the Office of Consumer Protection in the state Justice Department. He was appointed to the position in July 2007 by McGrath, a Democrat.
“I don’t think that, geographically and according to the law, that (Laslovich) is the right guy to be running over there (in Senate District 43),” said Sales, a Bozeman Republican.
“The fact that he’s an employee of the Department of Justice makes it even more important that some sort of decision be rendered on it,” Sales added.
Lynn Solomon, spokeswoman for the attorney general, said the office hadn’t yet received Sales’ written request, and would respond once it did.
Laslovich said Thursday the state law on residency “boils down to the intent of the person, where he intends to be or intends to live,” and that he still considers Anaconda to be his home.
Laslovich said he and his wife, Jill, bought a home in Helena in 2006 after she got a job working as an attorney for a law firm in Helena. He worked for a Missoula law firm until July 2007, when he was appointed to his position in Helena.
Laslovich filed to run for re-election in January and listed his parents’ address in Anaconda as his residence. He said Thursday that his job in Helena expires at the end of this year, so he doesn’t consider Helena his permanent residence.
“I’m outside (of the Senate district) for temporary purposes; my job is clearly temporary,” he said. “I’m registered to vote in Anaconda. I’m in Anaconda more than I’m in Helena.
“If (Sales) had a question about my residency, he should have called me himself. I would have been happy to explain to him what is going on in my life.” Sales’ request for a formal attorney general’s opinion “is a little bit of politics,” Laslovich said.
In his letter to McGrath, Sales said since Laslovich and his wife own a home in Helena and have jobs there, “it stretches the imagination that it is the intent of Mr. Laslovich to return to his parents’ house in Anaconda any time soon, if ever.” Laslovich, 27, is opposed in the general election by Republican Dick Motta of Philipsburg. SD43 contains Deer Lodge and Granite counties and the southern portion of Powell County, including the city of Deer Lodge.
http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2008/06/06/state_top/20080606_state_top.txt