Corrigan resigns as Flathead attorney
Longtime Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan’s last day on the job was Thursday.
Corrigan has had a colorful career in the Flathead, working in the county attorney’s office for 34 years, including the last 16 as the county’s top law enforcement officer.
Corrigan presented a resignation letter dated Aug. 16 to the county commissioners that his last day of employment would be Aug. 30. No reason was given for his resignation.
He wrote that he “strongly” recommended Travis Ahner to be appointed the County Attorney for the remainder of the year.
Flathead County Commissioner Pam Holmquist said Thursday that Ahner had been named the interim County Attorney for the remainder of 2018.
Ahner won the Republic nomination for the position in June and is running unopposed in the November election. He worked with Corrigan for a decade.
“I’m grateful for Ed,” Ahner said. “Personally, his mentorship to me, what he’s done for the county, he put together a phenomenal staff.
“When I first started working in the prosecutor’s office, Ed would be in here at 4 or 5 in the morning. He’d be in the office on most Saturdays and Sundays. He dealt with a significant number of complex cases that were very difficult.
“There are a lot of sleepless nights in that position and I don’t know of another Montana prosecutor that appeared on Dateline as much as he did.”
Corrigan joined the county attorney’s office after working as a prosecutor in Hill County from 1984-85.
When his predecessor, Tom Esch, announced he’d be leaving the office, Corrigan threw his hat into the ring in February 2002 and secured the Republican nomination later that year. He was set to face Whitefish attorney John “Jack” Quatman in the general election, but Quatman withdrew in September.
Corrigan received his undergraduate degree and graduate degrees in economics at Washington State, then earned his law degree from the University of Arkansas in 1983.
Holmquist said she thanked Corrigan for his service when he announced his resignation.
“It’s commendable he served the county for more than 30 years,” Holmquist said. “I wish him the best and I wish Travis the best, too. He has big shoes to fill.”
Corrigan has prosecuted a number of high-profile cases in the Flathead.
Corrigan secured a 1996 conviction against Dawn Gauchay, a teenage Kalispell babysitter who was sentenced for killing a child with PineSol and codeine. A year later, he won a conviction against Kurtis Wolcott, who murdered a woman in front of her young child.
In 2011, he also won a conviction against Evergreen teenager Justine Winter after she caused a high-speed crash that killed a pregnant Columbia Falls woman and the woman’s 13-year-old son.
Corrigan, who wasn’t available for comment, also wrote in his resignation letter that “it has been a pleasure and privilege to serve Flathead County since 1986.”
Ahner said he didn’t know why Corrigan resigned before his term ended Dec. 31, but he guessed that “it was to ease my transition.”
“We have a phenomenal group of attorneys and support staff that are good people, that have good common sense and exhibit great judgment,” Ahner said.
Reporter Scott Shindledecker can be reached at (406) 758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.