The First Judicial District Court in Montana is the venue for the ongoing dispute that pits a former state commercial food safety officer against several assistant attorney generals. It may be nearing some conclusion soon through either a settlement conference or a ruling from the bench.
Jeffrey P. Havens, once with significant responsibility for Montana’s food safety, continues to litigate the case pro se (without a lawyer) against the state. Assistant Attorney General Michael Russell represents Montana.
Havens said he thought that “after an August deposition in which I participated with the state in good faith and negotiated three settlement terms, the state has now decided to reverse course and again attempt to throw out the case for a third time.”
Havens suspects the agreement he negotiated with one Assistant AG did not fly with others on the state’s defense team. Nonetheless, a Nov. 3 settlement conference is on the court’s schedule.
The AG’s office’s most recent motion for judgment, essentially seeking to have the case dismissed, was received Oct. 3. Havens expressed his opposition to that in court documents:
‘’ I respectfully ask this Court for the opportunity to argue my case at a future date, if a settlement cannot be achieved, and implemented on public health facts, public health law, and the Montana Constitution, rather than grant Defendant’s implied and willfully negligent arguments that unwitting consumers of high-risk commercial homemade foods be imperiled to a future botulinum neurotoxin and/or similar outbreaks, which may likely result in adverse negative health consequences and/or death, directly because the joined and unified 2021, 2023 and now 2025 versions of the misleading “Montana Local Food Choice Act”(MLFCA), allow high-risk food products into commerce absent any and all reasonable regulations, which is practically and judiciously inexplicable, and completely contrary to the 2015 cottage food law regarding low-risk homemade foods. Overall, the mission of public health is prevention rather than reaction whenever practically possible.”
Since filing the original complaint in December 2023, Havens has argued that a series of “Food Freedom” actions over the years, since 2011, have left Montana with a Local Homemade Food law without consumer protection, while permitting false and misleading claims to be made and permitting unsafe and dangerous food to enter the marketplace.
“A person who attends a local farmers’ market who buys a homemade canned food product, such as sliced carrots, will likely have no idea the true origin of the ingredients or that it was manufactured or produced in the absence of any and all regulations,” Havens said. “As I have previously argued in publications, I could literally defecate and urinate into a metal can, seal its contents, label it as “Nature’s Finest Recycled Foods” and sell it for a premium price and not worry about any responsibility for knowingly deceiving consumers. Morerealistic, under-processed, low-acid homemade canned food products are often cited as a source of botulism outbreaks.”
Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the Montana Local Food Choice Act on April 30, 2021. It was sponsored by Sen Greg Hertz, R-Polson, a grocery store owner.
With some irony, Havens would write guidance and train the state’s 25 food safety officials on the new law before leading the state’s investigation into a raw milk outbreak, only to leave Montana for a job in another state. His last day with the state of Montana was Nov. 28, 2022.
Before he left the state’s payroll, Havens received an email on Oct. 20, 2022, from Sen. Hertz that said, “If you want to change the law, you should run for the Legislature or do this work on your personal time and not use state resources.”
On the same date, Havens’ supervisor sent him a warning about using his state email to “oppose state legislation. ” She added this: “You are a fantastic employee and an asset to our department.”
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