BUTTE — A controversial court case involving the Butte-Silver Bow County coroner and other officials has become even more contentious after a hot mic picked up a conversation between the county attorney and Butte’s Chief Executive at city council meeting on June 11.
"Even under our statute -- the FOIA stuff that they’re doing -- if we don’t give it to them, the only remedy they have is the cost and the attorney’s fees. That’s it," says B-SB County Attorney Matt Enrooth in YouTube footage of the weekly council meeting.
Enrooth can be seen speaking with Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher before the meeting is called to order.
"Okay, sure, it costs ya $500 bucks and a thousand dollars in attorney fees. The remedy is $1,500 bucks, that’s it," says County Attorney Enrooth.
A Butte man believes they are discussing the specifics of a lawsuit involving the coroner’s mishandling of his late husband’s remains.
"They’re obviously dealing with me in a very public manner. I mean, they’re sharing this story all over and it’s literally reliving one of the worst days of my life every time it hits," says Doug Ingraham, the husband of the late Caleb Boelman, a 32-year-old Butte man who passed away suddenly in his sleep in August 2024.
According to the lawsuit filed in January 2025 by Boelman's parents and siblings state that the coroner told them a cause of death could not be determined because his body decomposed rapidly after being left unrefrigerated at a Butte mortuary.
WATCH: Butte's Coroner Controversy: Hot Mic Reveals Troubling Discussions Before Council Meeting
Since Boelman's death, Doug says he has been trying to get answers from Butte-Silver Bow County, including filing FOIA requests.
"Instead of being transparent and explaining what’s going on, they’d rather just pay the maximum fee. That’s a terrible attitude," says Ingraham.
He says that in October 2024, he made FOIA requests for text messages, emails, autopsy reports, and documents regarding Boelman's death. He says to this day, his requests have gone unanswered, and the comments made before the meeting were inappropriate.
"That stuff is – that's privileged. If it’s said behind the closed door of an office, that’s one thin,g but in a council chamber meeting minutes before they go live? That’s not appropriate, and Mr. Gallagher sat right there and watched it and didn’t stop it," says Ingraham, during a Zoom call from Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ingraham is currently in Salt Lake City recovering from a kidney transplant. Earlier this week, he filed a motion to join the lawsuit against the county after months of unanswered questions.
"I’ve never been one to stand beside and let things pass over me. This is the time that I stood up and said something for Caleb. This is not how he wants to be remembered," says Ingraham.
"If I don’t defend our rights, I don’t have the ability to protect his estate. I don’t have an ability to do anything."
