He's been waiting for six months. And according to state officials, he'll keep waiting - 18 months total.
That's how long it currently takes for the Commission of Political Practices to investigate a case, state officials say.
In recent years, the commission has fallen behind in its casework. Officials say cases that should take three or four months to process are taking a year and a half. A docket that used to be full with less than 10 cases has ballooned to nearly 30. Of those complaints, two were filed as far back as July 2006.
Commission officials say they are working to cut the backlog by fall, but political parties worry the delay could impact elections.
“That would make it futile to file a complaint,” said Dennis McDonald, Montana Democratic Party chairman. “One could violate the rules Š but not have to worry about it until after the election.”
Dennis Unsworth, the state's commissioner of political practices, said his office prioritizes cases that could seriously affect an election. In other words, a high-priority case wouldn't have to wait.
“We'd have something like that resolved in 60 days,” he said.
Unsworth also said he is unaware of any Montana election hinging on a commission ruling.
The commissioner attributes the long delays to staffing problems. Before 2007, the commission had only one part-time investigator who reviewed cases for the entire state.
“Cases would be opened and then sit around,” he said.
The state hired a new, full-time investigator in September. According to the commissioner, the investigator has been making progress and is working on about 10 cases.
Unsworth said he has sympathy for those waiting and admits cases are taking too long to resolve. He said the agency is working to educate candidates and campaigns to identify political practice violations.
By distributing informational brochures and speaking at campaign workshops, the commission hopes to deter frivolous complaints so the investigator can focus on legitimate cases.
Educating candidates may help speed up investigations in the future, but Childers said it won't do much for his case. In October 2007, Childers filed a complaint against his Missoula City Council opponent, Lewis Schneller, alleging a violation of Montana's campaign laws.
Childers won the election, but said he still hopes his opponent will be held accountable for what he calls “willful ignoring of the law.”
Schneller has denied any wrongdoing.
This isn't the first time Childers has had to wait for a political practices investigation. According to state records, a political practices complaint was filed against Childers in 1999. The state ultimately deemed the case frivolous, but Childers said he didn't like the waiting.
“I was nervous the whole time it was outstanding,” Childers said.
That waiting is part of the investigation process, said Unsworth. By law, the state is required to give the receiving party 30 days to respond to a complaint. After the 30 days, the commission can request records.
“Most of the time they're cooperative, but sometimes they're not,” Unsworth said. “We'd like to be able to turn around most cases within three to four months.”
Complaints vary in scope. The commission recently issued a ruling on a case filed in June 2006, finding that opponents of a Yellowstone County obscenity ordinance did not file properly with the state. It also recently dismissed a complaint filed last July by the Montana GOP against Gov. Brian Schweitzer, alleging that he took illegal corporate contributions to his re-election campaign.
Earlier this month, the Montana GOP filed another complaint against Schweitzer, alleging that he improperly used public funds to produce public service announcements, which featured the governor.
Many cases have yet to be decided, but not everyone is impatient with the agency. Some political observers dismiss concerns over the delays, saying they may not impact elections.
“I don't think the action they take is sufficiently publicized and sufficiently severe so that it's going to change behavior,” said James Lopach, professor of political sciences at the University of Montana.
Chris Arneson is a journalism student at the University of Montana.
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