Mineral County: The Fucked Up Western Gateway To The Failed State Of Montana

by Travis Mateer

If you’re coming to Montana from the west, traveling on I-90, Mineral County is the jurisdiction you’ll enter as you cross Lookout Pass. Before the disappearance and ultimate death of Rebekah Barsotti, I didn’t think much about Mineral County. Now, as the 2024 election cycle starts ramping up with the change of seasons, I’m going to be thinking about Mineral County A LOT as our Governor and Attorney General make their case to Montana citizens about keeping their respective jobs.

Earlier this month, the legal shit-show I’ve been covering got some more official ink from the Missoulian. Before getting to the most recent developments, here’s some of my past posts for context:

I Ordered This Cool Mandamus, But All I Got Was A Shitty Ryan Funke Yard Sign (September 23rd, 2022)

Was The Writ Of Mandamus A Ploy To Destroy The Candidacy Of A Political Outsider In Mineral County? (October 27th, 2022)

The First Reports Of A Prisoner Suicide Inside The Mineral County Jail (November 27th, 2022)

Little Men In Big Montana Offices (December 12th, 2022)

A Governor Who Blames Biden For Not Securing Our Southern Border Can’t Secure His Own Counties (August 31st, 2022)

What The Funke Is That Disparaging Smell, Ryan? (January 10th, 2023)

Serious Question For An Unserious County Government: Does David Barsotti Have Rabies? (January 27th, 2023)

Mineral County Is At War With Itself, Assisted By A Law Firm Specializing In Money Shakedown Schemes For Badges Across Western Montana (April 21st, 2023)

How High Are Those Highlander Cows, Wally? (April 25th, 2023)

When I Say Montana Is An Embarrassment This Is What I’m Talking About (September 27th, 2023)

Is There A Reason Judge Vannatta Is Afraid Of Weak Courthouse Security? (November 9th, 2023)

Who Dares Challenge Their Hero Narrative? (March 22nd, 2023)

The Montana Law Man’s Path To Politics Has A Big Problem And That Big Problem Is ME! (February 15th, 2024)

Will you get this kind of context about a sparsely populated County in Montana from any other news source? No, you will not, because no other news source has dived into this David Lynchian realm with the unique skillset that I possess. You’re welcome.

The latest article from legacy media is telling you the writ of mandamus process almost over, meaning the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office and County Attorney’s Office should be up-to-speed on the requirements of doing their jobs, like maintaining COMPLETE PERSONNEL FILES on Sheriff Deputies. You know, basic shit that most jurisdictions don’t need a judge to force them to comply with.

Here’s how the Missoulian is framing the issue in an article published earlier this month (emphasis mine):

A writ put in place to remedy errors by Mineral County’s law enforcement departments is nearing dismissal, moving along a legal process that’s essentially served as an overhaul of Mineral County’s criminal justice system.

The Mineral County Attorney’s Office and Mineral County Sheriff’s Office were put on judicial notice in October 2022 after a Missoula law firm filed two writs of mandamus contending the departments were abusing the rights of Mineral County residents through the legal system.

In their original filing, the plaintiffs, represented by Jordan Kilby and Lance Jasper of Reep, Bell & Jasper P.C., argued the county violated the rights of multiple Mineral County residents through not disclosing information relevant to the defendants’ cases, known as Brady disclosures. Hiring malpractices within the county sheriff’s office led to unqualified law enforcement involvement in criminal cases, and the Mineral County Attorney’s Office didn’t properly disclose that in case proceedings.

I highlighted the name Lance Jasper and the law firm he works for because this is where I distinguish myself from other media sources: I will actually tell you that the Jasper family name is VERY well known in Mineral County, and because of that notoriety, NOTHING about the legal actions taken by Lance Jasper and his law firm should be taken at face value.

To emphasis this point, here are two more posts I wrote in 2022 worth considering:

What Kind Of Bell Have I Rung Now? (July 31st, 2022)

Missoula, Do You Hear That General Obligation Bond-Bell Ringing For Reep Bell & Jasper? (August 4th, 2022)

Isn’t this interesting context? It sorta makes you wonder what this law firm is REALLY up to, doesn’t it.

Let’s continue with the Missoulian article for more on this legal shit-show, including the funny victim-card Lance keeps playing for himself.

Tensions have mounted between all sides involved in the writ in the 18 months since it was first put in place. Accusations of improper conduct were lodged by both sides in court on Wednesday, with Jasper sharing concerns about retaliation from the county attorney’s office.

“We started this complaint to just get law enforcement and the county attorney’s office to follow the law, but as a result of this there have been continued efforts to slander and attack myself and others in this matter,” Jasper said.

Mineral County Attorney Debra Jackson denied such conduct, and described Jasper’s allegations as “absolute nonsense.”

Maybe it’s just me, but Lance’s strategy to make himself look like a victim is pretty damn amusing. Lawyers are already pretty disgusting creatures, IMHO, but launching a legal process to ensure your boy, Ryan Funke, defeats the gay woman from Florida is REALLY something.

Does Lance Jasper need a box Kleenex to get him through the day?

I’ve been doing a lot lately to bring a critical perspective to local law enforcement, like developing a mutha fukin methodology for assessing the credibility of one famous member of local law enforcement, including disclosing the rumored nickname of that famous detective.

Well, today I’m going to let readers in on ANOTHER NICKNAME for the jailer who was on-shift when Shane Pelletier was found dead from an alleged suicide, and this nickname should REALLY make you chuckle.

The man who former Sheriff, Mike Toth, hired DESPITE the fact he was caught cheating on a cop test, is David Kunzelman. Here’s a picture of Toth and Kunzelman for context:

And here is the movie character that inspired the nickname for Kunzelman when he worked on an ambulance truck here in Missoula:

The money-quote from the Missoulan article is buried, so here’s the result of my excavation for YOU, dear reader! The quote is from Robert Long, an attorney from Polson brought in to referee this embarrassment (emphasis mine):

“In 32 years of criminal law practice in Montana, the undersigned never encountered a general failure by a law enforcement agency to employ qualified personnel as occurred in this case at the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office,” Long wrote. “The problem in Mineral County was, by any measure, large and serious.”

See? It’s not just me saying things are REALLY BAD in Mineral County, so what I’m about to say next should be taken with all this context in mind.

A coroner’s inquest is coming to Mineral County, and this inquest will be happening under changes made by our last dumpster-fire legislative session, as the title of this article clearly indicates:

From the link (emphasis mine):

Prior to 2023, state law said a coroner who is also a law enforcement officer couldn’t conduct an inquest for an in-custody death. However, in recent years, more and more counties have combined their sheriff and coroner’s offices, with one person holding both titles. That’s made it harder to find civilian coroners.

Brian Thompson, a lobbyist for the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, said during a legislative hearing last year that only 15 counties still had independently elected coroners. That means those 15 people had to handle all the inquests for in-custody deaths.

The Legislature eventually passed and Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 68, sponsored by Sen. Barry Usher, R-Yellowstone County. That bill allowed sheriff-coroners to preside over these inquests as long as they’re from a different jurisdiction.

This, in my opinion, is VERY BAD news, but there’s a silver lining, and it’s this: the narrative controllers in this state are SCARED, and I think little moves like this are an indication that, despite EXTREME narrative control over things like determining cause and manner of death, not to mention a crime lab in Missoula I suspect is VERY corrupt, our members of law enforcement want to put a JUDGE hat on the Sheriff’s already wearing their CORONER hat when convenient, like claiming Rebekah Barsotti’s river death was accidental.

Right, Sheriff/Coroner Funke?

I don’t know how smart it is to put so many hats on the heads of men like Ryan Funke, especially when his Sheriff’s Office signed a memorandum of understanding with the Missoula drug task force last year to deal drugs in Montana–I’m sorry, I mean deal WITH drugs in Montana.

The Missoula Police Department is a member of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, comprised of other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. 

Mineral County has just become a member of this esteemed society. 

Lt. Sean Manraksa, of the Missoula Police Department, who is assigned to the Missoula Drug Task Force, and Mineral County Sheriff Ryan Funke signed a memorandum of understanding linking the law enforcement teams to work fighting all aspects of the illegal drug markets.

Yeah, I’m sure you guys are trying REALLY HARD to combat the scourge of illicit drugs, but what I’m seeing in the “urban camps” shows me whatever you guys are doing is NOT WORKING very well.

Is this by design, or due to a combination of incompetency and lack of resources? I’d love to continue speculating, but the morning is getting late, and Virgil needs a walk. Doesn’t his new leash look good?

If you appreciate my work, a donation is a great way to show it, though I’ve realized panhandling my audience for GoFundMe donation dollars isn’t cutting it, so I’m looking at an option that would change up the look of Zoom Chron and make it LESS of a money drain on my very limited funds.

Thanks for reading!