Stevensville council approves and swears in Christine Lindley as town attorney

The Stevensville Town Council approved the recommendation of Christine Lindley as town attorney and administered the oath of office.

Council member Smith moved to approve the recommendation and the motion was seconded by Council member Wahlberg. The motion received no recorded roll-call tally in the transcript; the council then recessed briefly and returned to swear in Lindley.

The appointment follows interviews by town officials. The Presiding Officer said the human resources officer, the clerk and Council member Schmidt interviewed the candidate and that Lindley "answered every question" and "seemed to be very confident." Council member Smith told colleagues he found Lindley "extremely competent" and "somewhat direct," adding that he liked that style.

Lindley told the council she graduated from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and described her recent legal experience as "just about 2 and a half years" since graduating. She said she served a little over a year as a county deputy civil attorney advising the county board of commissioners and departments, and later worked in private practice where her work included contract drafting, land-use matters, property tax appeals, human-resources issues, construction-law matters and litigation. She said she opened her solo practice in November, is the sole owner, and has one office assistant who helps with file management. Lindley said her primary home and main office have been in Missoula but that she is in the process of moving her office back to the valley and would provide an update on the office location.

During the proceedings, Lindley said the town would be contracting with her practice (recorded in the transcript as "Lendly Law LLC"); she described how the proposed contract would identify points of contact and support for file management. When asked about balancing private clients and town work, she said she controls client intake and scheduling and did not expect conflicts to prevent her from performing town attorney duties.

After the brief recess the council reconvened and Lindley recited the oath of office: "I, Christine Lindley, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Montana, and that I will discharge the duties of town attorney of the town of Stevensville with fidelity, so help me God." The council offered congratulations following the oath.

No statutes, ordinance numbers, vote tallies or contract details were recorded in the transcript. The council did not discuss a start date, salary, or specific contractual terms on the public record in the provided transcript excerpt. The appointment appears to conclude the agenda item under "New business."