Former county attorney enters plea

Former Sanders County attorney Naomi Leisz made her initial appearance in court on Tuesday, entering a not guilty plea to one charge of criminal insurance fraud. Leisz appeared before Judge Edward P. McLean at the Sanders County Courthouse. She is being represented by attorney Colin Stephens.

Insurance fraud charge stems from an accident that occurred in April 2022, according to the charging documents, where a vehicle Leisz owned was involved in an accident in Trout Creek while allegedly being driven by her son. The vehicle was allegedly then removed from the scene. As stated in charging documents, an investigation found that Leisz filed an insurance claim several days after the accident, claiming she was driving and with different details about what occurred than what the physical evidence suggested.

Court documents state that Leisz told Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Spurr she was driving the vehicle when it struck an animal, causing her to leave the road and collide with a tree. Investigators allege that Leisz misrepresented to the insurance company that she was driving the vehicle. The insurance company told investigators that they paid just over $8,800 to Leisz on the claim.

Judge McLean addressed the parties with his concerns about pulling a jury, as Leisz was County Attorney for over five years and several of the witnesses that may be called to testify are high school students. The state is being represented by Kevin Bratcher, an attorney with the state Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. All the parties agreed that it would be best to call a larger pool of jurors to initially select from, as well as to retain a couple of alternates for the trial itself. Judge McLean set a trial date of January 16, 2024.

Charges were filed against Leisz earlier this summer. She submitted her resignation to county commissioners effective July 5 and stated in the letter that she was voluntarily going on inactive status with the state bar.

Last week, Sanders County Commissioners voted to appoint Megan Hansen of Missoula to the position of county attorney.