Judge orders release of Ellie Boldman DUI body-camera footage

A Lewis and Clark County District judge ordered the release of body-camera footage from Sen. Ellie Boldman’s 2025 DUI arrest, ruling that public disclosure outweighs her privacy interests. The order covers the first 34 minutes of the Helena footage and turns a local arrest into a public-records test that Lewis and Clark County residents can now examine through the court record.

The case stems from March 3, 2025, when Boldman pleaded guilty in Helena Municipal Court to misdemeanor DUI. Police found the Democratic state senator from Missoula sleeping in her running vehicle near Park Avenue and Placer Avenue, where the car was obstructing the roadway after a political fundraising event in Helena. Court and news reports said Boldman’s blood alcohol content measured 0.149, well above Montana’s legal limit of 0.08.

Boldman, who is also an attorney, later called the incident the “biggest mistake of my life” and apologized. Her plea and the police account made the case one of the most closely watched matters in Helena, not only because of the offense itself but because it involved an elected official whose conduct and the government’s response are matters of public concern.

The judge’s ruling now shifts the focus from the arrest to transparency. By finding that disclosure outweighs privacy, the court signaled that Boldman’s position as a senator does not create a shield against scrutiny when police records are at issue. That is especially significant in Lewis and Clark County, where residents routinely rely on public records, court filings and body-camera releases to understand how law enforcement and the courts handle both ordinary cases and those involving public officials.

The dispute over the footage has become a broader question of accountability in Helena: whether the public will see the same kind of police video that can be sought in other cases, or whether an elected official receives extra protection because of the office she holds. For now, the county court has made the final call, and the first 34 minutes of the arrest video are set to become part of the public record.