Areas of focus since taking office include:
- Combatting the drug pandemic by partnering with Resolve Montana, an initiative providing safe medication disposal, as well as Aid Montana which offers a comprehensive approach to addressing Montana’s substance abuse problem.
- Putting an end to human trafficking by cracking down on the predators perpetrating the crime and partnering with other agencies.
- Reauthorizing the Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force to offer improved response to missing Indigenous persons in Montana.
Professional background: Austin Knudsen, a fifth generation Montanan, was elected as the 25th Montana Attorney General in 2020. Before taking office, AG Knudsen served as the Roosevelt County Attorney and worked in private practice. He served in the Montana House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019 including two terms as the Speaker of the Montana House, one of the youngest people in Montana history to serve in that role.
Education: He earned a B.S. in sociology and B.A. in political science from Montana State University. He then earned a Juris Doctor from the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana.
Personal: AG Knudsen is a fifth generation Montanan of Danish descent. He grew up on his family’s farm in Bainville (in the far northeast corner of Montana) where they grew wheat, sugar beets and raised Angus cattle. Knudsen and his wife, Christie, live in Culbertson, MT and they have three children.