HELENA — Montana Supreme Court Justice Laurie McKinnon has paid a fine, after admitting to a misdemeanor for failing to slow down while driving past a stopped emergency vehicle.
According to court documents, McKinnon appeared in Broadwater County Justice Court on Jan. 20, where she pleaded guilty to one charge of reckless endangerment of emergency personnel. That statute, amended by the Montana Legislature in 2023, requires drivers to slow down to half the posted speed limit when going by an emergency vehicle with its lights on.
Justice of the Peace Kirk Flynn deferred McKinnon’s sentence for three months, on the condition that she pay $285 in fines and fees and complete an online traffic course.
McKinnon was cited on U.S. Highway 287 just north of Townsend, around 6 p.m. on Nov. 27, Thanksgiving. She told MTN earlier this month that she and her husband were returning from visiting family in Gallatin County when she was pulled over. She said she saw two law enforcement vehicles on the side of the road alongside another stopped vehicle, and that she tried to move into the southbound lane to go around but had to quickly get back to the northbound lane because of oncoming traffic.
In a statement to MTN Monday, McKinnon again said she hadn’t been aware of the newest slow-down requirements in the statute and believed she had been driving safely and prudently under the circumstances, but she acknowledged that the law required her to slow all the way down to 35 mph in a 70 mph zone. She said the case had become a distraction from her work.
“I have worked with law enforcement my whole career and have great respect for what they do,” she said. “I would never do anything to jeopardize their safety.”
