Missoula County Public Schools Trustee Jim Sadler

During the many years of Jim Sadler's service on the MCPS Board there have been several heartbreaking and unnecessary decisions that have negatively affected so many Missoula children's lives. A few of the sad events in recent years are: school closures, a school sale, leases of our public schools to private schools, and references of closing Hellgate High and of selling other elementary schools.  During discussions on many of these issues Jim Sadler voiced his support even though most were elementary school issues and he is a high school trustee.  In addition, Trustee Sadler wrote a letter recommending the razing of the historic old Roosevelt School on 6th Street to make room for a parking lot for Hellgate students.

missoulaschoolswatchdog believes that there has been enough tragedy and sadness due to the erosion of our neighborhood school infrastructure mentioned above.  Missoula needs trustees that will protect our valuable and beloved schools which are our children's birthright and part of Missoula's heritage.

One reason for the creation of missoulaschoolswatchdog is to share information which can provide citizens with insight into the backgrounds and character of MCPS Trustees. Resumes mean something in life. Citizens need to know if the people for which they vote are ethically inclined. The information above will shed light on on a slice of the past in Jim Sadler's life. After reading this information, citizens will decide for themselves if this matters to them as they vote for Trustees to represent the school district. Ideally, the information below would have been posted at an earlier date so that citizens would have access to it before casting their votes for the school board positions. For a variety of reasons this was not able to be accomplished.
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The following quotes are from an article in the June 13^th, 1984 Missoulian regarding long-time Missoula County Public Schools High School Trustee Jim Sadler.  The title of the article is:

Former Missoula lawyer faces five theft charges

"Former lawyer James Sadler of Missoula was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with stealing almost $80,000 of his client’s money." 

and -
"The five count charge filed in District court Tuesday by Deputy County Attorney Ed McLean accuses Sadler of taking money from clients in real estate deals and in his role as manager of an estate."

"The counts range from $58,900 allegedly stolen in a real-estate deal to a $12,000 banking transaction, to “more than $300” from Sadler’s guardianship of an elderly man."

and -
"The thefts allegedly occurred between 1976 and 1982."

and -
"Sadler,.... voluntarily surrendered this license to practice law last year when unspecified charges were brought before the Montana Bar Association."

and -
 " The defendant’s lawyer, Thomas Frizzell of Missoula, declined comment on the case. "

According to the article, Sadler appeared before Missoula District Judge Jack Green.

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The following is from an article in the June 29^th, 1984 Missoulian under Community Briefs, and titled, "Former lawyer James Sadler pleads innocent to theft charges".

"Former Missoula lawyer James Sadler pleaded innocent Wednesday to charges that he stole almost $80,000 of his client’s money."

and -

"The Missoula County attorney’s office accused him of five counts of theft involving client’s real estate deals and one elderly man’s estate.  The approximately $80,000 is supposed to have been taken between 1976 and 1982."

and -

"In 1983 Sadler voluntarily surrendered his license to practice law after unspecified charges were brought before the state Bar Association.  A conviction for thefts of the kind charged in Sadler’s case is punishable by up to 10 years in prison on each count. "

and - 

"Sadler is a former Missoula City Council member."

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missoulaschoolswatchdog is of the understanding that Jim Sadler offered an Alford plea to these charges.


If msw is correct, the above mentioned Missoulian article is not available on the internet at this time. One can find it on microfilm at the Missoula County Library on Main Street.