Fortine legislator released from jail

The Daily Inter Lake

Rep. Rick Maedje pleads not guilty in domestic-violence case

Rep. Rick Maedje, R-Fortine, has pleaded not guilty to a domestic violence charge and has been released from jail.

Gary Hicks, Libby justice of the peace, said Maedje, who is a candidate for a Lincoln County Board of Commissioners seat, entered his plea Wednesday afternoon and spoke during the proceeding.

According to Hicks, Maedje said the incident that led to his arrest late Tuesday night came about after he told her that she no longer could live at his home on Roberts Creek Road near Fortine.

An affidavit filed with the court by the arresting officer, Sergeant Steve Short of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, said the girlfriend, Kathy Wade, reported that she had been "shoved" into the refrigerator at the house. When Short arrived, Maedje said there "was not anything physical," according to the affidavit. But the officer "noticed that Kathy had a red mark on her right cheek that was consistent with the kind of injury that the refrigerator handle would have caused and was at the correct height to have caused the injury."

Wade urged Short not to arrest Maedje, but Short responded that he did not have a choice under state law and he arrested Maedje on suspicion of partner-family member assault.

Hicks said he released Maedje on his own recognizance, under the condition that he have no contact with Wade and that he remain lawful.

Maedje and his Libby attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday. However, Maedje issued a press release Thursday evening.

In it, he called the accusations false and labeled Wade "a troubled individual."

He wrote of list of crimes he asserts she has been convicted of, as well as other personal problems.

"The individual making the accusations is know to be very troubled. I am aware this is not the first time this person has made false accusations …" he wrote.

Maedje is challenging incumbent Commissioner Marianne Roose of Eureka.