Lilletvedt sworn in as interim Hill County attorney

Brian Lilletvedt was sworn in this morning as interim Hill County attorney, temporarily filling the void left by former Hill County Attorney Karen Alley, who left the position last Friday.

Lilletvedt moved to Havre in 1978 and practiced primarily in criminal defense and civil practice from 1978 to 1984 when he joined Bosch, Kuhr, Dugdale & Brown where he practiced until his retirement in March 2020.

He said he received a call from Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson, whom he's known for years, and has a solid working relationship with, and he was offered the interim position.

He said after looking into the job's statutory requirements and finding he met them he took the commission's offer, especially since then-Deputy Hill County Attorney R. Timothy Jeffrey was a few months short of those requirements.

Jeffrey announced his own resignation, saying he was moving back to the Iowa area he is from, not long after Alley, who took a position at the Montana Association of Counties, and Lilletvedt heard about it after agreeing to fill the position.

He said one of his priorities will be to find a good deputy, hopefully one with some experience, to help fill the county's legal void.

He said when he first moved to Havre, the county attorney's office was a two-person office, eventually becoming a three-person office, which he said it really should be, and filling that void will be difficult.

"It's going to be a challenge," Lilletvedt said.

He said he has no interest in taking the position of county attorney permanently, and he hopes to only be in the position for six months.

"That's really not on the table," he said.