HB 603 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Eliminate attorney requirements on quasi-judicial boards

HB 603 removes the statewide requirement that at least one member of a quasi-judicial board must be an attorney licensed to practice law in Montana. This bill amends various sections of the Montana Code Annotated to eliminate this specific qualification for state boards that perform administrative decision-making functions. It also explicitly removes the attorney requirement for the Board of Directors of the State Compensation Insurance Fund and the Hard-Rock Mining Impact Board. The change allows for a broader range of professional backgrounds among the appointed members of these boards.
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 20, 2025 Signed May 5, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0603_X(3).pdf HB0603_X(4).pdf · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill removes the requirement that at least one member of a quasi-judicial board must be an attorney licensed in Montana. This change allows non-attorneys to serve on these boards, potentially broadening the pool of qualified members and reducing barriers to entry for board positions.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded to include additional sections (2-15-1019, 2-15-1822, 2-15-2305, 2-15-2502, 2-15-3110, 2-15-3402, and 2-15-3406) that were previously not explicitly listed in the act title.
ELIGIBILITY

Removed the requirement that at least one member of a quasi-judicial board must be an attorney licensed to practice law in Montana.

TECHNICAL

Added section numbers to the list of amended statutes in the act title for clarity and completeness.

Removed the word 'AN' before 'IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE' in the act title for grammatical consistency.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 15, 2025 · House Mar 6, 2025

How they voted

3614
Passed
Total votes 50
Apr 15, 2025
D Democratic18
4 Yea 14 Nay
77% Nay
R Republican32
32 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
38
Key actions
9
Committee
6
May 1, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 24, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 15, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (36-14)
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 14, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 6, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (68-31-1)
house
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 20, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 20, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Greg Overstreet
Greg Overstreet
RRepublican
MT
88