HB 578 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Generally revise laws related to restitution

HB 578 revises laws related to restitution in criminal cases, affecting both offenders and victims. The bill removes the requirement for courts to consider an offender's financial resources or future ability to pay when determining the initial restitution amount during sentencing. It also allows information about a victim's financial or property loss to be provided to a probation officer without a specific court order. Additionally, the bill modifies the conditions under which a court may grant a petition to revise a restitution order.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Feb 19, 2025 Signed May 8, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0578_X(5).pdf HB0578_X(6).pdf · 1 edit
MINOR
The bill text was updated to grant a petition to revise restitution laws and amend several specific sections of the Montana Code Annotated. The amendment removed the section number 45-5-503 from the list of sections being amended. This change narrows the scope of the bill by excluding one specific statute from the proposed revisions.
Scope change
The bill's scope was narrowed by removing section 45-5-503 from the list of sections to be amended.
SCOPE

Section 45-5-503 was removed from the list of statutes the bill intends to amend.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 16, 2025 · House Mar 6, 2025

How they voted

3119
Passed
Total votes 50
Apr 16, 2025
D Democratic18
1 Yea 17 Nay
94% Nay
R Republican32
30 Yea 2 Nay
93% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
39
Key actions
9
Committee
6
May 5, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 16, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (31-19)
senate
Mar 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 7, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 6, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (58-41-1)
house
Feb 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Bill Mercer
Bill Mercer
RRepublican
MT
52